A Song of Ascent
by shotokuta
Summary: When a jutsu goes terribly wrong, the world of Naruto changes dramatically. Naruto became a skilled yet neurotic ninja who joined Akatsuki, while Sasuke ended up as a second-rate ninja of Konoha. But with the world unnaturally altered it starts to fall apart, and its up to Naruto and Sasuke to figure out who they really are and restore the world to its former self. Semi-AU.
1. Pilot

Chapter 1

Pilot

* * *

It started happened because of a jealous man who hated the World.

He became convinced that the Ninja World was unjust, and must be changed. So he sought the **Amenonuhoko**- a powerful jeweled spear that held the power to change the Ninja World and make the Shinobi a God.

However, his plan did not go unnoticed as the ninja of Konohagakure discovered his plot, and sought to thwart it. They raised an army with one of their most skilled ninja's, Uzumaki Naruto, in its vanguard.

The Leaf army scoured the Ninja World searching for the Shinobi that threatened their existence. But the Shinobi was skilled and managed to evade capture. It was by chance that the vanguard discovered the Shinobi. But by then the Shinobi had the **Amenonuhoko** in his hand. They tried to solicit his surrender, but alas the Shinobi stubbornly refused, convinced that he would win.

So with the Shinobi resolute in his plans, the vanguard attacked him.

Naruto crossed his fingers to activate **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**. A clone of him appeared, and started to form a spiraling blue orb in his right hand. He charged the villain with his jutsu in hand.

But by then the Shinobi managed to activate the **Amenonuhoko** and began his plot to subvert the World.

His spear glowed and transformed from a rusted and pitiful exterior to a heavenly spear encrusted with jewels. The Shinobi quickly thrust the heavenly spear into the earth and touted his ascendance. With the spear activated and by the flick of his hand, he effortlessly hurled the charging Naruto miles away from him.

By that time the army of Leaf ninja arrived, and with the Shinobi in their sights they hurled kunai, shuriken, and their most powerful jutsus in an attempt to defeat the Shinobi before he could do any harm. But it proved useless, as their attacks were deflected and their army quickly dispatched by the power of the spear. The Shinobi laughed over his kills, and proclaimed it as proof of his domain over life.

But the Shinobi underestimated the power of the **Amenonuhoko** and was blown away himself- his vices sealing the fate of himself along with the World. And with the spear left abandoned, it started to reduce order into chaos.

An anomaly that looked like a whirlpool formed and started to pull in everything within its reach. As it devoured the earth and the heavens it became bigger. And within mere seconds it reached Naruto.

The orange ninja was powerless to do anything. He could not flee from it, as its gravity was too strong. And with horror, the ninja witnessed the beginnings of his change. His body twisted and pulled apart. The death was a quick one, and he did not suffer pain with his death. But even as a spirit, Naruto did not escape the whirlpool. It reached the netherworld and drew in his spirit along with the souls of the dead.

It would not even take a day for the whirlpool to destroy the Ninja World. When it pulled in everything in existence, it started reshaping the Ninja World- making a completely different reality with different truths.

* * *

From the **Amenonuhoko**'s power, Uzumaki Naruto's life changed from one full of friendship, love, and teamwork to that of sorrow, loneliness, and insanity. He was always on the run. And never stayed in one place for too long. He traveled the Ninja World, becoming skilled in nearly all ninja arts. But he would be hated and despised in nearly every land he set foot on. His mark as a Shinobi was ruthlessness, cunning, and madness. And it was those qualities that attracted the attention of the criminal organization, Akatsuki.

The Leader of Akatsuki managed to convince Naruto to join his organization, albeit at a high price. When Naruto joined he was promptly assigned a mission along with Kisame Hoshigaki to capture the prized Jinchuuriki of Iwagakure.

The two stalked the Jinchuuriki of the Five Tails to the outskirts of Iwagakure. There, with no witnesses or support available for the Jinchuuriki, the two decided to attempt capturing the Jinchuuriki.

The Jinchuuriki was called Han, and was known for his steam-based ninjutsu. He looked formidable: wearing red, ironclad armor with a furnace attached to the back.

Kisame would've promptly attacked Han simply for the enjoyment of the fight. But he restrained himself in order to see his new teammate in action. Grinning with anticipation, the blue-skinned ninja asked, "Naruto-kun, can you take this one?"

"It isn't Naruto. It's the One-Man Blight," Naruto corrected Kisame.

"Don't underestimate me with that child of yours," Han shouted from afar, "I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Five Tailed Beast,"

"I can destroy you in ten seconds if I wanted to," Naruto informed Han, "And for your information I'm sixteen, not a kid,"

Kisame said, "But this one seems pretty tough, Naruto-kun, do you really think you can defeat him?"

Naruto corrected Kisame again, "It isn't Naruto. It's the Tamer of the Four Saintly Beasts,"

"Why are you using a different name?"

"It isn't different,"

"What? Yes it is. You're calling yourself two different names with two different connotations,"

"So? That doesn't mean that they can't mean the same thing,"

Kisame rebuked, "That isn't the point. One name sounds obviously like a death bringer while the other one sounds more heroic. Either way, you shouldn't use two names… it's too confusing,"

"And what if I'm both? I could've been a great hero who has a dark side that has caught up to him and now he is divided between whether to fight between what he believed was good or what he now perceives as not so bad,"

"...Oy, don't get caught up in a fantasy that isn't true,"

As the pair bickered, the Jinchuuriki saw an opportunity to attack his would-be abductors and took it. He blew steam from the furnace strapped to his armor and charges forward. He attempted to land a knockout punch to Naruto. But Naruto realized that he was about to be flattened, and dodged his opponent's attack. The blonde jumped high into the air and threw what seemed like a thousand kunai at the Jinchuuriki. To which the Jinchuuriki blocks and deflects. He released more steam from his armor and propels himself upward. When he was upon Naruto he nearly landed a blow, but just as his fist reached the whisker marks on the blonde's face, he disappeared in a flash.

Puzzled by Naruto's sudden disappearance, Han fell to the ground. He scanned the battlefield now littered with kunai but couldn't find the blonde. So, with the blonde seemingly out of the picture, Han decided to attack Kisame.

"Naruto!" Kisame yelled, "Where did you go?!"

And right behind a pillar of rock, Naruto corrected Kisame, "It isn't Naruto. It's the Scourge of the Ninja World,"

"You gaki! Why are you over there?!"

"I need to take a dump,"

"Why now?!"

"It's the food we had last night," Naruto moaned, "the beef must've been rotten. I told you to cook it more but you insisted it be bloody,"

Then he winced a little from food poisoning and remarked, "That's the last time I let you cook…"

"There was nothing wrong with the meat, if there was, I would be in pain too. But that doesn't matter, what matters is the fight. I've never heard of a ninja that leaves a battle because his stomach hurts. Now get back here and fight!"

"It isn't like I chose the ninja life," Naruto sighed, "the ninja life chose me. I mean, there was a time when I wanted to be Hokage, but I found out that title was meaningless. All I really wanted was a little recognition, but everyone always looked at me funny. I only became a ninja because society dictated that your skills as a ninja are what measured your worth in society,"

The ironclad Jinchuuriki ignored Naruto's rant and charges Kisame. Kisame curses and clasps his hands together yelling, **Suiton: Bakusui Shoha**.

But instead of spewing forth a sea's worth of water and gain the advantage with water-based ninjutsu, Kisame threw up.

The normally sadistic, playful demeanor of the blue-skinned ninja turned into one of mild pain and agony. He yelled, "Naruto! Get back here now!"

However, Naruto was never known to quickly come to an ally's aid. Playing with emotions and seeing their reactions was something he often enjoyed. As a little kid, it was only harmless pranks. But years of neglect and solitude caused him to develop a pleasure in truly screwing people over. Thus the blonde ninja only grinned, "Nah, I think you can handle it,"

Before Kisame could reply, Han was upon him. Luckily the sentient sword, Samehada, came to Kisame's aid instead of Naruto. The sword shielded Kisame from the Jinchuuriki's powerful punch and produced sharp scales, which forced Han to jump back lest have his armor shaved off.

Kisame propped himself up with Samehada, his food poisoning taking a serious toll on his ability to fight. Han entered into Version 2 of his Jinchuuriki Transformation. Black and Red colored chakra enveloped his body and his face took up a ghastly appearance. With Kisame weakened, Han figured that his speed would be enhanced to the point that Kisame couldn't evade him and thus he would successfully dispatch his foe.

At that moment, the normally proud shinobi felt helpless, an unexplained fear gripped him. He was stuck and didn't know where to go or what to do. As Han lunged forward, Kisame decided that the only thing to do was to stand proud and go down fighting. He could only laugh at his own misfortune, "I guess you're on your own, Naruto,"

"It isn't Naruto," the ninja corrected.

Then he suddenly appeared behind Han and swiftly weaved multiple hand signs together. With a jutsu activated, he slapped the Jinchuuriki's crimson chest with one hand and announced, "It's the Fourth Hokage's Blunder!"

After being slapped at the chest, Han howled and fell to the ground. Right where Naruto slapped the Jinchuuriki was the Kanji word 'Fuu', which means 'seal', surrounded in a black circle of writing. The seal was used to suppress Han's chakra and return Han to his human form-Han was defeated.

"How?" He managed to eke out, "How… did… you-"

"The kunai I hurled at you earlier," Naruto pointed to a kunai lodged in a rock pillar, "They all had special seals on them, seals that allow me to instantaneously teleport to its location. It's a technique used by the late Fourth Hokage. I think of it as a sort of hand-me-down, but it's not one of my preferred jutsus,"

"So… strong…" was Han's only response.

"I'm not done with you yet," Naruto told Han. And then he looked the ironclad Jinchuuriki dead in the eyes, and with one hand formed a hand sign to unleash a jutsu.

He calmly said **Shihohirutama**. And Han's perception of reality suddenly changed. He was teleported to a dark realm and stood in a shallow pool of water that was endless in all directions.

"This is genjutsu..." he muttered.

Suddenly, Naruto appeared behind him but much bigger. The black cloaked ninja was a giant compared to Han. He laid his hands out in front of him to form a small glittering orb. It was at this point that Han started to melt into the pool of water and when his whole body completely melted, the large form of Naruto kneeled down and gently placed the luminescent orb in the water.

At first, the orb did nothing, but then it slowly started to soak in Han like a sponge. As parts of him were sucked into the orb, the orb started to get bigger. To Han, it felt like his emotions and his energy was being sucked away.

"The orb must be sealing me into it," Han thought, "I need to release this genjutsu, maybe if I-"

"Too late," Naruto interjected, and quickly sealed Han within the orb.

Rendered immobile and powerless, the Jinchuuriki watched as the giant Naruto picked him up with both of his hands and hold the orb to his mouth. Naruto started to drink Han like sipping broth from a bowl of soup, to which the helpless Jinchuuriki looked on with horror. The last thing that Han saw before falling unconscious was his enemy's large gaping mouth, and the dark abyss inside.

The Jinchuuriki fell into a coma and the body that once struggled laid still.

Kisame grunted, "Took you long enough," and picked up the Jinchuuriki with Samehada and asked, "Naruto, why didn't you use that technique of yours in the first place?"

The blonde ninja replied, "It isn't Naruto. It's the Iron's Hitokiri Battosai,"

In exasperation, Kisame pressed his fingers against his forehead, "What's wrong with calling yourself Naruto?"

"Names are meant to mean something. That name has lost its meaning to me,"

"Oh? Why do you hate using your birth name, Naruto?"

The blonde ninja avoided the question however. There was much trauma and hatred behind his name. And such emotions Naruto believed were best left unspoken. So instead of expressing such things, he corrected Kisame, "It isn't Naruto. It's the Fifth Mizukage,"

With a mixture of disbelief and irritation, Kisame laughed, "Your names are so ridiculous. You don't need to say all these names to show you're talented, it's obvious that you have it!"

Naruto promptly informed his teammate, "I worked hard for such names, Kisame-san. Don't assume that 'talent' had anything to do with it. I remember a guy that always had talent, and he pissed me off. He was always lauded as a genius. His name was synonymous of brilliance. And every time I failed, I was compared to the talented kid who could do anything with the snap of his fingers. I hated being compared to that person, and for a moment I thought that I was damned to being a failure. But you know what? You can't be powerful only by virtue of being talented. It is hard work that gives you results. My mastery of a thousand jutsus, my legendary speed and strength, my ruthless conduct- all of it I gained through work. And that is what gave me my names. Not talent. And those name prove my accomplishments, Kisame. They are my mark as a shinobi. Not the name, Naruto,"

"Whatever," Kisame sighed in irritation, "we don't have time for this, let's just get to the rendezvous point,"

The two headed for the ruins of Kusagakure to deliver the Jinchuuriki and join the rest of Akatsuki.

* * *

During that time, Uchiha Sasuke sparred with his teammates at the outskirts of Konohagakure.

He stood on one end of the field with his **Sharingan** activated, while at the other end stood a smaller Hyuga clansmen with her **Byakugan** activated. Their sensei renowned as Copy Ninja Kakashi gave the signal to the two ninja. And the two did battle.

The battle was short, and went as expected—Sasuke lost.

The Uchiha would try to pick himself up off the ground, but instead collapsed and laid there in defeat.

The Hyuga maiden teased Sasuke, "Don't try to move, Sasuke-kun. I wouldn't want to use my Gentle Fist technique again and ruin that pretty face of yours,"

Haruno Sakura, one of Sasuke's teammates, only sighed from the sidelines, "Defeated again,"

Kakashi praised the Hyuga, "Good job, Hanabi, good form and excellent execution," and hollered to the fallen Uchiha, "Sasuke, you still need a little work,"

Sasuke only grumbled in response, much to Kakashi's disappointment. Ever since his humiliating defeat during the chunin exams by Gaara of the Sand, Sasuke's skills have deteriorated. And now, Sasuke has become nothing more than a second-rate ninja of Konoha.

After Kakashi dismissed Sakura and Hanabi, he crouched over Sasuke. He wanted to spark something inside of his student, "You don't seem to be practicing like I ask you to. Everyone in your generation are improving, yet you seem to be deteriorating,"

But Sasuke refused to accept such news and protested, "That isn't true! I mastered Chidori, and I have a two-tomoe Sharingan! That's got to count for something!"

Kakashi responded to his pupil with cold, hard facts, "True, those are powerful jutsus. But if you lack the ability to adapt to the situation at hand and apply such jutsus appropriately you will be easily overwhelmed. It's a skill in itself to understand when to do what. Hanabi knows that, Sakura knows that, and your brother Itachi knows that,"

Of course, Sasuke refused to believe any of it. It wasn't out of pride, but out of necessity that he refuse to acknowledge his failure. It was out of necessity so that he could maintain an inactive, easygoing life as opposed to a difficult one. He reasoned that if he acknowledged himself as a terrible ninja, than he would feel obligated to actually do something about it—which to him was bad.

The young Uchiha has become a disappointment to anyone close to him. It would've most likely been different if his father had lived. Ever since his father was dead, Sasuke developed an unenthusiastic attitude towards life. If someone was around to push Sasuke, then he could've been a jonin at a very young age. But no one was there to push him. His brother was too busy leading the Uchiha Clan and his mother can only push Sasuke so far without her husband. It thus followed that without any support when growing up, that Sasuke's inherent talent as a ninja was left undiscovered.

Kakashi only sighed at the sight of Sasuke's denial. Seeing as he couldn't reach his pupil, he assigned Sasuke to practice shape transformation and dismissed him.

As to be expected from Uchiha Sasuke, excuses were only uttered on the way home, "I'm strong the way I am now," Sasuke would say, "Kakashi shouldn't compare me to the likes of my brother and Hanabi… they're prodigies. They are at a whole different level. And if he is comparing me to other shinobi, he should compare me to all the other ninja in my class, not to Hanabi and Itachi. I'm at least above average with the rest of my class. I did become a chunin the second time I took the chunin exams..."

By the time Sasuke arrived at the gates of Konoha, Sasuke was armed with an array of excuses not to work and reasons to have fun. He thought of seeing Sakura, but quickly rejected the notion of sleeping with her. The only reason he thought of sleeping with her was because they had such a good time when they were a couple. But like every relationship Sasuke had, it was short-lived, and his relationship with Sakura ended after she gave up on trying to change him.

Eventually Sasuke would pick another of his classmates. He didn't spend much time with her, since they were assigned to different teams after graduation. But that was exactly why he chose her, because she doesn't know how much he has changed. And so, the second-rate ninja headed for Ino's house. Looking forward to having a night full of pleasure and no worries…

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it, if you like it a lot or think there is something wrong don't hesitate to review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto


	2. Meetings

Chapter 2

Meetings

* * *

The ruins of Kusagakure were overwhelmed by thistles: large, purple prickly weeds that gave the village a ghastly look. The remains distressed the members of Akatsuki, who were often pricked by the thistle weeds if they so much as moved. It seemed nonsensical to even come to such a village; there was no strategic or monetary value to the place. And to them it seemed to be a waste of time to even trek to the lost village. But orders were orders no matter how ridiculous. And they wouldn't dare defy the Leader's orders.

It was after the tenth time that Hidan was pricked that he asked, "Why are we in this corpse of a village? It seems like a waste of time,"

"The Leader made it clear that he we meet here," Kakuzu said.

White Zetsu explained to Hidan, "The Leader said we are going to meet with Kisame and Naruto-kun,"

"Maybe we're going to seal away the Nine Tails. Hmm," Deidara thought out loud.

Zetsu clarified the Leader's orders, "He said we are going to seal the Five Tails, but he didn't say anything about attacking Naruto-kun,"

"Well I don't see any other reason for letting that bastard join. Hmm,"

Zetsu curiously asked, "What do you mean?"

But instead of Deidara, his partner Sasori explained his reasoning, "We let him join under the pretense we are his teammates, and then when he least expects it we attack him and take his Nine Tails,"

"We won't do such a thing. He is our teammate," A voice suddenly bellowed.

The voice came from an orange, spiky haired man that unexpectedly appeared. One could tell that he commanded the respect given to a leader, as the members of Akatsuki stood up and listened attentively to what he had to say. He advised his comrades, "He should be treated as a member of this team,"

Hidan crossly asked the Leader, "Why the hell did you make us come out here?"

The Leader looked past the disrespect, "To make you respect Naruto-kun..." the Leader calmly answered, "...to show you you his power,"

But Sasori dismissed the Leader's claims, "He's a Jinchuuriki. Of course he would have power,"

"No," the Leader told Sasori, "He has abilities regardless of the beast sealed within him, all of which should make you respect him,"

Hidan only chuckled, finding it hard to believe that a teenager could beat him, "What abilities could the brat possibly have?"

The Leader lightly laughed. It was hard for him to remember that the others didn't know of Naruto's past. He decided to enlighten his teammates by pointing out to the ruins of Kusagakure and telling them, "He did this,"

Kakuzu shook his head in doubt, "I heard of a ninja called the Thistle Bringer that did this, but I've never heard of a child called Naruto doing this,"

"Thistle Bringer?" Sasori raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that a myth?"

"Why don't you tell us the myth to get everyone on the same page?" the Leader requested Kakuzu.

The bounty hunter complied and explained, "He isn't a myth. He really exists. I know this because of the millions of ryou in bounty on his head. No one really knows where he came from or why he attacked Kusagakure. But either way, the ninja was so powerful that he was said to have hurled five flaming mountains at the village, and annihilated it in one night. Even after he killed the villagers, his rage did not end. And so he set the once lush forests and valleys of Kusagakure on fire. And when he was about to leave the ruined village, thistle seeds that were lodged on his cloak fell to the ground. They took hold on the barren wasteland and when they sprouted, they overwhelmed the local vegetation. And because of the thistles that grew on top of the remains, the ninja was named the Thistle Bringer,"

After a brief silence, Sasori could only express dismay, "…So Naruto-kun is the Thistle Bringer"

Hidan refused to believe such news, "No… no, it's not possible. There's no way that bastard did all of this!" he opened his hands to show the sight of thistles, emphasizing the absurdity of a young shinobi burning an entire village in one night.

Kakuzu also expressed his doubts, "I know Naruto-kun is strong, but to destroy an entire village of ninjas and evade capture…it just doesn't seem likely,"

The Leader put the matter to rest by explaining, "There's no denying that Naruto-kun is the Thistle Bringer. A unique chakra signature can be found in each thistle plant that has grown in the area, the Thistle Bringer's chakra most likely leaked into the parent seeds and dispersed into the plants' following generations. Nevertheless, the unique chakra signature matches Naruto's chakra; I checked it myself,"

Upon hearing the news, the Akatsuki became disheartened. The news was rather startling, and had they known this earlier, they would've protested the Leader's actions. However, now that that was in the past, there is only the future to worry about. And the one thing that worried them all was how to handle Naruto.

But the Leader comforted the group by telling them of his strategy, "That's why I brought you here," he said, "for you to see the extent of Naruto's abilities and respect them. But also to motivate you to observe him closely and find any discernible weakness. Do whatever is necessary: approach him to find out if he has any personal traumas that can be exploited, go on missions with him to observe him in combat. Anything that will tell us his weaknesses,"

"Are you planning on taking the Nine Tails by force?" White Zetsu asked.

"It's a precaution," the Leader sighed, "Even though Naruto agreed to sacrifice himself willingly, we can't trust him. His… personality is erratic,"

Before the Akatsuki members could inquire as to how Naruto was erratic, the blonde was before them.

Naruto greeted them by promptly bowing his head hollering, "Ohayou Gozaimasu!"

There was nothing but silence after his greeting. To say 'good morning' when it was evening only confused the Akatsuki. Some believed that this was the erratic behavior Naruto supposedly displayed, and didn't know whether to acknowledge the greeting or to ignore it out right.

Hidan broke the silence by stating the obvious, "Oy, you guys, It's evening, not morning, why is he telling us good morning?"

The rest of Akatsuki didn't know how to respond, and Naruto ignored Hidan's observation. Instead Naruto straightened his back, and continued his introduction, "It's an honor to work with Akatsuki. I may not seem as strong as you, but I promise I will follow any order and see that it is carried out,"

The Leader stepped forward to set an example for his peers. It was vital that they approach the ninja and observe the weaknesses Naruto supposedly had. When the Leader approached Naruto, the blonde courteously bowed, "Leader-sama. Apologies for being so late, Kisame-san needed to stop so many times because he was feeling ill,"

The Leader responded by opening his arms out and cheerfully telling his comrade, "Naruto-kun, there is no need for that much civility. Calling me Leader-san would be fine,"

Naruto straightened his back and corrected the Leader, "It's not Naruto. It's the Demon Fox, Leader-chan,"

Upon the misuse of honorific, the Leader grew irritated and corrected Naruto, "I'm sorry, I think you didn't hear me correctly. I said call me Leader-san, not Leader-chan,"

Naruto bowed again, "As you wish. Leader-kun,"

Deidara and Hidan snickered a bit, while the rest of Akatsuki became uneasy.

"Never mind," the Leader sighed, "where's Kisame with the Jinchuuriki you were supposed to capture,"

"I don't know," Naruto shrugged, "I lost him somewhere on the outskirts of the ruins. Probably had diarrhea from the bad food he made last night, Leader-noroma,"

"Oy! That's not even an honorific, at least use actual honorifics!"

"As you wish. Baka-sama,"

"Baka-sama?! What do you mean by that?! Why are you doing this?! You're insulting me aren't you?!"

"I would never, Toroi-dumbass,"

"At least address me as Leader-baka! It may not have an honorific, but at least I'm still called Leader! Why are we even talking about this? Are you trying to anger me?! Tell me! Tell Leader-baka!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about, dumbass,"

"You're not even trying to use an honorific!"

The Akatsuki members were in an uproar.

Deidara burst out in laughter, while Sasori tried to contain himself.

Hidan laughed, "Did you see that Kakuzu? Naruto's totally screwing with the Leader!"

And while White Zetsu laughed, Black Zetsu remarked in disapproval, "How do we have such a pitiful leader?"

"Silence!" The Leader yelled at them.

Upon hearing the command, the members straightened their backs and bowed to the Leader, "Sumimasen…" they all said.

Then Kisame stumbled into the meeting. He carried the Five Tailed Jinchuuriki on the blade of his sword. As he dropped the Jinchuuriki to the floor, Kisame collapsed, taking deep breaths to fight back the puke and diarrhea.

"So your mission was a success," the Leader commented. But Kisame was too sick to reply and only waved his hand to confirm the Leader's comment.

The Leader acknowledged the wave of Kisame's hand and told the rest of Akatsuki, "Now that our newest member has proven himself. I will assign missions to every two man squad. From here on out, Akatsuki will take on a more active role. After we extract the Five Tails here, I-"

"Anno…" Naruto raised a finger, "Sumimasen,"

"…What is it?" the Leader asked in annoyance, he could feel an insult coming. But to his surprise it was a valid question.

"What is my mission?" Naruto pointed to his fallen teammate, "My partner doesn't seem able to fight for a while,"

The Leader decided, "You will go with Kakuzu and Hidan as support,"

While Hidan openly protested and Kakuzu expressed displeasure, Deidara celebrated the news and Sasori sighed in relief. The Leader overlooked the response of his subordinates and ordered, "Enough talking. We need to seal the Five Tails,"

"But that'll take at least three days," Hidan groaned, "Maybe even more since Kisame over there is dying,"

"We'll be done quicker than you think," Naruto stated.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Hidan asks, challenging Naruto's claim. He knew that sealing away a Tailed Beast was a complicated and long process. Even the most skilled of ninja could not hasten the pace of the extraction by any significant degree.

But Naruto wasn't like other ninja.

The blonde informed his colleague, "Because you have a Jinchuuriki and fuinjutsu specialist on your team,"

"Tch, we'll see about that," Hidan sarcastically said.

Then Akatsuki made the preparations for the sealing ritual. And instead of three days, it only took one to seal the Five Tails. When Akatsuki dispersed to perform their missions, Hidan refused to comment on Naruto's contribution.

* * *

In the meantime, the Third Hokage sat in his office, smoking from his pipe and reviewing the daily reports of his ninja. As Third Hokage, he administered the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and as such he was forced to handle with the bureaucracy of his village instead of actually dealing with any threat.

It should be noted that since there was no invasion of Konoha, the Third Hokage continued to enjoy his tenure as leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves; as opposed to suffering death during the chunin exams.

The day proved to be uneventful for the Third: nothing but filling out permits, signing in new ordinances, and handling the budget of the village. The Hokage expected to lock up his office soon, walk down to the temple, and begin his daily prayers. However, his day took a turn for the worst when two of his former students entered.

One student handed him new information on the criminal organization, Akatsuki. The Hokage, however, was apathetic to such reports as they never held any useful information. Every report he had on the organization was only a few short sentences. All he really knew was that the organization has been inactive for years, and that they are planning to hunt Jinchuuriki. But that is all he really knew. So without any useful information about Akatsuki, the Hokage dismissed Akatsuki as nothing more than a group of criminals.

However, this report contained alarming news. The Third coughed violently from smoking when he read the report, "This isn't good. Orochimaru, don't tell me this is true!"

"The proof's there," his pupil explained, "the former Mizukage has joined Akatsuki,"

Orochimaru's sibling disciple of the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, questioned Orochimaru's conclusion, "Oh? The Fifth Mizukage is still alive? I thought they hung his body at the gates of Kirigakure,"

Orochimaru explained to the Toad Sage, "Unfortunately that one was a fake used by the government to calm the public. No one knows the real identity of the Fifth Mizukage since he reigned literally from the shadows. But there's no doubt that Akatsuki's newest member is the former head of the Hidden Mist Village. He uses the same techniques and has the same… personality,"

Hiruzen tipped his red hat, "How do we know that?"

"While we don't know what the Mizukage's identity is, we do know a few things about him," Orochimaru explained, "The forbidden technique he used to wipe out half of Kirigakure is connected to the same jutsu he is using now. The latter jutsu is known to be part genjutsu and part fuinjutsu, and the effect of that technique is putting its victim into a coma. And that is exactly what happened to nearly every ANBU that was sent to track him,"

"Anyone could put an ANBU into a coma with the right genjutsu," Jiraiya pointed out.

"That's just the first part of my reasoning," Orochimaru clarified, "The next part is where his personality comes into play. The late Mizukage's personality is well-known to be bizarre and inappropriate. The person who put the ANBU into a coma drew mustaches, genitalia and other crude images on their faces. No doubt in my mind that these are the same peculiar aspects that embody the Fifth Mizukage,"

Jiraiya laughed, complimenting his fellow Leaf ninja, "That's Orochimaru for you, a great shinobi and an even better detective," Jiraiya placed his hand on Orochimaru's shoulder, "Since you're so good at analyzing people, have you ever found out who Naruko the Whore is?"

Orochimaru gave a look of disgust upon hearing Jiraiya's inquiry. He knew Jiraiya was perverted, but not that sort of philanderer, "I'm not a pervert like you to even consider that type of thing. Why would you even want to pursue such a twisted individual?"

Jiraiya chuckles, "Oh, there's a certain romance to it. I might write a romance-horror novel just based off the pleasure of…," Jiraiya pressed his lips together, thinking of the appropriate words. They were in the Hokage's office after all, and that demanded some sort of tact. Upon finding the appropriate words he grinned, "…knowing her,"

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow and told his colleague, "Jiraiya… Naruko the Whore is a serial killer that wanders the world in search of powerful shinobi. He sells his body in exchange for being taught the shinobi's powerful techniques and then violently kills the teacher,"

"Oh?" Jiraiya looked confused, "Don't you mean female serial killer? The whore I hear about is said to be an astonishingly beautiful blonde with the perfect size of breasts that one could ever lay their hands on. Some say that one night with her is the same as a thousand nights of pleasure. Those who have died have done so because they couldn't handle the purest form of ecstasy known to exist," Jiraiya was drooling at the mouth just talking about the serial killer.

Then the Hokage interjected, correcting Jiraiya on his information, "That isn't true. Naruko the Whore is really supposed to have the bottom of a goddess. Old men throughout the world pray at temples. They pray to the Gods to bestow upon them just a short glimpse of that rear end,"

Jiraiya exclaimed, "Oy! You are one of those old men aren't you?!"

The Hokage stood up and looked the perverted sage right in the eye, "You bet I am,"

Orochimaru placed the palm of his hand against his face, "Sensei. Not you too,"

The Hokage sat down and cleared his throat, there needed to be less talk of serial killers and more talk about mass murderers, "At any rate, news about the Fifth Mizukage is serious but since every tracker we had on Akatsuki is put in a coma we can't do much. All we can do now is wait for Akatsuki to act, and then go from there,"

The Third asked Jiraiya, "What news did you come to tell me? I understand it's been years since you set foot in Konoha, it must be important,"

"It's probably about the release of a new Icha Icha book," Orochimaru sighs.

Jiraiya took offense at Orochimaru's offhanded comment, "Don't take my series so lightly. It takes months of research to get the right plot!"

"Yes…I'm sure peeping in hot springs every day must've been tiring,"

"Orochimaru. Jiraiya," The Hokage interrupted, "Enough bickering, it's getting late and I need to get to the temple before it closes,"

Jiraiya and Orochimaru apologized and the Toad Sage spoke of foreboding events, "The world's falling apart. There are a lot more earthquakes than usual, winds are changing in unusual directions, and the sea currents are flowing the wrong way. All of these disasters are taking a serious toll on the World: the Land of Earth's mines are shutting down because of tremors, the Land of Water's fisherman sail home with empty nets, and the Land of Fire is facing a huge drought,"

"I've seen many natural disasters in my day, why are these things peculiar?"

Jiraiya explains, "Because it has to do with the chakra embedded in nature. It's like someone shattered the delicate balance of chakra in the World. And if this is left ignored, I'm worried that the result could be devastating,"

"I admit, that does sound frightening. How long do you think we have before it becomes threatening?"

"If I had to guess, we have another decade at most until things start to get out of hand,"

The Hokage told his former student, "Try to find the source of this as soon as possible,"

Before Jiraiya could continue speaking of the World's inevitable demise, Shimura Danzo suddenly appeared. The councilman stared gravely at the Hokage with both of his brown eyes. He wordlessly indicated his desire to talk with the Hokage—alone.

Danzo proved to be a bitter old man: his personality becoming more militant and extreme, but his skills as a ninja waning. But even though he wasn't skilled as a ninja, he remained powerful with political tact alone. He knew how to play the game: how to manipulate and bribe the right people to get what he wanted. Thus Danzo managed to maintain some measure of power as a Konoha Councilman. But to the Hokage, he lost the status as a friend in turn for a malcontent.

The Third dismissed his students—sparing them the argument that would most likely erupt between the two old men. When his pupils left, the Hokage's demeanor went from open and welcoming to serious and somewhat hostile, "What is it that you want, Danzo,"

The old, frail-looking man pressed his lips to look for the right way to start off. But since he couldn't find the right way to pretty up his concerns, he just went out and said, "I have concerns about the Uchiha Clan,"

"Not this again..." the Hokage grumbled.

"It's true, that ever since Uchiha Itachi became head of the clan things have stabilized. But they're gaining power at an alarming pace. And frankly, you haven't been much help,"

"Oh? Dare I ask how I endangered the village?"

"Putting Uchiha Shisui on the Konoha Council, Sarutobi,"

"It's not Sarutobi. It's the Hokage, Danzo. Try to remember that next time,"

Danzo, in his paranoia frenzy, ignored the insult and pressed on, "The Uchiha clan is too good at what they do. They're running for civil offices now and winning them. They're controlling our military by outperforming other shinobi. And putting an Uchiha on the Konoha Council is a nail in Konohagakure's coffin!"

"Enough, Danzo!" the Hokage promptly stood up and meet Danzo eye to eye, "From what I can see, the Uchiha Clan has served the village well. Their sudden surge of popularity is no reason for concern. Shisui is a loyal ninja to this village and is a perfect emissary between his clan and our village. I will not have you ruin relations between us and them on baseless accusations and paranoia!"

"…I see I cannot persuade you,"

"Frankly, if anyone should be a cause for concern, it is you,"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm well aware of your secret faction called Root. And creating such a faction and trying to cover up its existence to me is a blatant act of deception!"

"That faction exists to serve the interests of the village,"

"The village's interests? Or your own?! Root only takes orders from you, and is not reviewed by the office of the Hokage. You make unilateral decisions with that personal army of yours: ordering assassinations, making executions… Those are your mark as a shinobi!" It was at that point that the Hokage became emotional, to Danzo it seemed like the Hokage was becoming hysterical. The Third passionately accused Danzo, "You have no regard for diplomacy or negotiation. You don't share. What you do is lie. Cheat. Deceive. When I tell you to do something, you do the exact opposite! Tell me how that shows your desire to protect this village!"

"Sarutobi… aren't you just talking about Naruto?"

The Hokage bit his tongue. He wanted to scream profanity at his supposed comrade, or better yet wring his neck. But Hiruzen didn't want to let Danzo win, so he coldly told the Councilman, "You are going to want to leave this room... Now."

Danzo smirked as he bowed and quietly left the Hokage's office.

When Danzo left, the Third tried to calm himself down. Naruto has been distressing him ever since he fled Konoha. It was Danzo's fault that Naruto fled. He defied Hiruzen's orders, and plotted to expel the Nine Tailed Fox from the village instead of save the boy like the Hokage ordered.

And now every time Naruto was mentioned, the Third would get so worked up that he would almost have a stroke. But he couldn't die on the job, not now anyways. If he did, then Danzo would win and usurp control over the village. And that was something Hiruzen certainly did not want to see.

So to put his mind at ease, the Third said a few words to Naruto, like a spell that would protect the young ninja and to calm himself.

"Naruto…" the old Hokage sighed, "I hope you're safe out in the World by yourself, some bad people are out to get you and I'm not there to protect you...,"

Then the Third lit up his pipe and breathed in the smoke. It may make his condition worse, but the Third didn't care. The pains of regret needed to be expelled one way or another. If not, it would cloud his judgment, and he would forget that he had a village to run.

Unfortunately being Hokage meant you can't afford to relax.

A Leaf ninja stormed into his office with a scroll in hand, "Hokage-sama!"

The old man sighed, "What is it?"

"Urgent news from Sunagakure! The village has been attacked by Akatsuki!"

"What?" the Hokage put out his pipe and motioned for the scroll.

The ninja explained as she handed the scroll over, "They were after the Sand's Jinchuuriki, Gaara. Sunagakure's in disarray—their Kazekage is dead, Gaara has been kidnapped, and their council is in a political deadlock,"

The Hokage fumbled through the scroll and asked the ninja, "If the council is slow to respond, then how are they asking for our help?"

"A councilman named Baki sent the message. He's doing so without the council's permission. But he thinks that with the Kazekage dead and the Jinchuuriki captured, the Sand Village will make drastic changes. Our Alliance with the Sand Village seems to be in jeopardy,"

The Hokage nodded in agreement, "I have no reason to suspect Baki. Intel says that he is a strong supporter for the Leaf-Sand Alliance and would hate to see it dissolved,"

"I don't understand why our help would change the tone of Sand's politics though..."

"The Jinchuuriki is the Kazekage's son. If we save him, he'd most likely become the next Kazekage and having him owe us would serve to only strengthen our Alliance,"

Then the Third ordered, "On your way out, tell my assistant to summon Team 7,"

"Hai!" the ninja bowed and quickly ran out to summon Kakashi's team.

When he was alone, the Hokage only muttered to himself the pains of making decisions, "If only I could send more teams. But there could be a war with the other Shinobi village at any minute… I hope Kakashi's students are skilled enough. Especially with the Fifth Mizukage in Akatsuki…"


	3. Extraction

Chapter 3

Extraction

* * *

It is days after Team 7's deployment and Sunagakure was still in disarray. With the death of the Kazekage, the Sand Council continued to bicker over who should be the next Kazekage. They dismissed Gaara's abduction as only an unfortunate event and did not consider it a priority to save him.

Because the Sand let the Akatsuki be the Akatsuki could seal Gaara's Tailed Beast unhindered. They convened in a hidden cave in the River Country but most of the members were in holographic form, save for Deidara and Sasori who were physically in the hidden cave.

Holograms were utilized for their convenience. With Akatsuki's members spread throughout the Ninja World, it would take an unprecedented amount of time to seal away the Jinchuuriki's Tailed Beast. Holograms allowed the members of Akatsuki to be anywhere in the Ninja World, yet be present for the extraction of the Tailed Beast. And thus, it became a vital technique for every member of Akatsuki to master.

The Leader prepared the extraction by summoning a great statue. Each member of Akatsuki then perched upon one finger of the statue's hands. Then when all of the members performed a hand seal, the top of the statue's fingers glowed and its mouth opened. The Jinchuuriki lifted into the air and his Tailed Beast, little by little, was sucked into the statue's mouth.

"So how long will sealing the One Tails take? Hmm?" Deidara asked his compatriots.

"It'd take a day with Naruto present," Zetsu informed Deidara.

Naruto corrected Zetsu, "It's not Naruto. It's the Fifth Mizukage,"

"Oy, why are you calling yourself such long-winded names?" Hidan peevishly asked Naruto. He was starting to get annoyed by Naruto's corrections. Ever since Akatsuki left Kusagakure, Naruto has been nothing but a thorn in his side. If one says the name 'Naruto', he immediately corrects you with a bizarre or infamous name known throughout the Ninja World. Such vanity irked Hidan to his core.

"Don't bother, just ignore it," Kisame advised Hidan. He too found it overbearing to have Naruto correct him, but gave up trying to understand why Naruto acted the way he did.

"Even though it's only going to take a day, it's going to be uneventful," Deidara sighed, "Anyone have any funny stories to tell? Hmm?"

The Leader promptly told Deidara, "This isn't a woman's knitting club. This is the criminal organization, Akatsuki. We brood, not gossip,"

But Naruto dismissed that notion, "A brooding organization is only asking for its own demise. Who wants to think about the end of the world all day? Kisame-san, why don't you tell us about the time you accidentally ate Shark-Fin Soup and made yourself puke,"

Kisame muttered to himself, "I told you not to talk about that,"

"Oh? Kisame..." Hidan chuckled, "I didn't know you hated Shark-Fin Soup. It's not like cannibalism to you is it?"

The reference to his appearance enraged Kisame, to him it was a touchy subject. He calmed himself instead of scream though, seeing no point in raising his voice. So Kisame coldly told Hidan, "That isn't funny. I just find it disgusting to eat something that is an endangered species,"

Naruto grinned, "Are you sure it isn't your affinity and delusional fantasy of being a shark that forced you to puke?"

"If you weren't next to me, I'd rip off your mouth off," Kisame threatened.

The Leader interrupted with an order, "Enough talking. Just concentrate on sealing the One Tails,"

Naruto replied, "As you say, Leader-baka,"

Upon hearing himself be called 'Leader-baka', the Leader nearly broke down and cursed. But he bit his tongue instead, telling himself that Naruto's behavior only serves as a distraction. So he reasoned that he must bear Naruto's unbearable behavior in order to find out Naruto's weaknesses—so they can get rid of him as soon as possible.

The Leader hesitantly approached Naruto, not sure of how to go about finding his weakness, "So… Fifth Mizukage,"

"What?" Naruto bluntly asked.

"Why don't you tell us a little about yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like… you know, describe yourself. Your strengths," Hidan explained.

The Leader was quick to point out, "And your weaknesses… we need to know so we can," the Leader made up an excuse, "…make a more cohesive unit,"

Then Naruto scratched his chin, repeating, "Describe myself," a few times as if it would help him understand the meaning of describing one's self. He didn't really know what to say, since throughout his entire life, no one was ever interested in him. Most of the time people fled at the very sight of him or only glared at him for the monster he apparently was. So Naruto decided to describe himself the only way he knew was possible, "Well… I'm the Fifth Mizukage, the Iron's Hitokiri Battosai, the One-Man Blight, the Tamer of the Four Saintly Beasts, Naruko the Whore, the Uchiha's Bane, the Fallen Senju, the Eye-Snatcher, the-"

"Oiee! Don't list out names!" Hidan interrupted.

"Well, names are what define a person," Naruto shrugged, "What do people think when they say someone's name? They think of everything that name entails, they think of their love for them or their hatred for them, they think of all the times they spent together, and all the weird mannerisms he had—a name describes a person,"

The Leader never thought he would have this sort of conversation with someone so powerful. One would think that a powerful ninja would at least have some common sense. He tried to explain, "A name can only go so far. If you never met the person, the name evokes nothing. Haven't your parents ever taught you these kinds of things?"

"My parents died when I was born. I am an orphan,"

The rest of Akatsuki became silent when they heard that he was an orphan. None of them knew what to say to Naruto without violating some sort of social faux pas. Granted, they all had messed up lives and manners weren't considered an important aspect of their conduct. But interacting with someone as powerful and erratic as Naruto requires finesse—which all of them lacked.

However, the Leader refused to remain silent since he was desperate to know more about Naruto and any weaknesses that he could have. The Leader needed to know. He couldn't let a conceited teenager like Naruto get the best of him. "How about you tell us your story? How you made it all the way to Akatsuki that is," the Leader asked.

"Nah, it's nothing noteworthy," Naruto humbly told the group.

Hidan pointed out Naruto's sudden change in demeanor, "Why is he being so modest? Just a few minutes ago he was bragging about all the names he had,"

Naruto acted like he didn't hear it, "Well, if you guys really want to know, I guess I can give you a brief summary…even though that alone is sort of long,"

"He's screwing with us," Hidan warned the Akatsuki, "He's using this as an excuse to brag some more, I can feel it,"

The Leader hushed Hidan, desperate to get something of value from Naruto's story.

"It all started in Konoha. As you all know I have a Nine Tailed Beast sealed inside of me and he did some bad things. So everyone hated me since I had him in me. I didn't like being hated. I wanted to be acknowledged by them. So I did retarded things like playing pranks, stealing, and tagging the village a bunch of times just to get some attention. But I suppose I was too dumb to realize that that pisses people off. So I predictably became even more desperate for their attention. I don't know why I couldn't see the stupidity of the whole situation, I mean just because some idiot sealed a fox into a kid doesn't make the kid the fox. But whatever. Anyways, I saw how the Hokage was so respected and how everyone looked up to him. So I thought I should be like him.

"And that is why I entered the Ninja Academy hell-bent on becoming a Hokage. But I sucked. Hard. I failed the graduation exam three times because I failed at being a ninja. I remember looking at this kid named Sasuke, and how perfect he was and how everyone loved him—boy, was I pissed at him. But that's another story. Anyways, so I didn't pass my exams, I didn't become a genin, and I think I was crushed by the whole ordeal. And it was the third time I failed that my life changed for good. A teacher came up to me. I think he was called Misukai or something? I don't remember but he was a dumbass so let's just call him 'Hidan',"

"Oy! Why the hell are you using my name?!" Hidan yelled.

Naruto laughed, "What do you think why?"

Hidan could've yelled some more but the Leader silenced him and asked Naruto to continue his story.

Naruto did so, "Anyways, so Hidan came to me all high and mighty. Like he knew what he was doing even though he really didn't. He tricked me into stealing a forbidden scroll that he said could have me graduate if I learn one of the forbidden jutsus, but to make the story simpler let's just call the scroll a dildo,"

"Why that?!" Hidan asked.

"Quiet," the Leader commanded. If the Leader had to jump through hoops to find Naruto's weakness then so be it, "Go on, Naruto. He made you steal a dildo and…?"

"Oh, the whole village was going crazy because this dildo has been in the village since its creation. So they searched frantically for the dildo I had strapped to my back,"

Sasori commented, "This is starting to sound weird,"

But Naruto ignored the comment, "They couldn't find me or the dildo since I was in a shack hidden in the forest. I was alone so I used the huge dildo to teach myself powerful techniques. But my teacher… oh what's his name…Irusei? Never mind, let's just call him 'Kakuzu',"

Kakuzu's left eye started to twitch a little, but Naruto continued regardless, "Anyhow, Kakuzu caught me using the dildo and was really mad because I used it without permission. I explained that Hidan told me I could be a ninja if I used the dildo. But before either of us knew what was going on, Hidan suddenly attacked the both of us and proclaimed that he tricked me so he could use the dildo for himself. Kakuzu told me to run off with the dildo while he held Hidan off.

"But Hidan ignored Kakuzu and ran off to find the dildo. He looked all over the place until he finally found someone who looked like me. He asked if he could have the dildo, but it turned out to be Kakuzu who then slammed him to the ground. Hidan was stronger, however, and ended up knocking Kakuzu to the ground. With Kakuzu defeated, Hidan demanded to know the location of the dildo. Kakuzu flat out refused and I just watched from a distance as Hidan stabbed Kakuzu for not telling him where the dildo was-"

At that point, Kisame and Deidara were laughing out loud.

Hidan started to scream, "This was all an excuse for him to screw with us!"

"Are you sure you're not screwing yourself?" Naruto smirked, "You really wanted the dildo for some reason,"

"Naru- I mean, Fifth Mizukage, that wasn't funny," The Leader fought back the urge to laugh.

"But I'm not done," Naruto told the group, "So I was really pissed that Hidan killed Kakuzu. So I whacked Hidan with the dildo. Unfortunately, the village was still pissed. I think stealing the dildo really was the final straw for them. So I fled Konoha with nothing but a kunai in one hand and a dildo in the other. I was still convinced that I could make the village proud and deluded myself into thinking that if I train harder while away that they'll somehow forgive me for stealing a dildo. Then at one point or another, I became homesick and went back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves,"

Then Naruto suddenly became silent. Something about his return to Konoha saddened him, and the Akatsuki could tell by just looking at his eyes. The Leader noted tears that seemed to well up within them, but Naruto refused to let them go. Naruto sighed, "But they didn't forgive me, and tried to kill me. My body escaped, but I was lost. Disillusioned, I sought what it meant to be a shinobi and traveled the world to see what the heroes of old times were like and why they were even called heroes. I suppose you could call the ordeal soul-searching… just with a lot of dead bodies along the way,

"It was when I nearly destroyed Kirigakure as the Fifth Mizukage that Leader-baka found me. His cloak intrigued me, and he offered it to me if I joined. So I figured, 'Why not?' and here I am,"

"Hold on, back the hell up," Hidan angrily said, "You joined Akatsuki because of the cloak?"

Naruto only shrugged in response, "Yeah, it looked cool at the time,"

"Wait, what do you mean 'at the time'?" the Leader asked.

To which Naruto confessed, "It's really hard to go to the bathroom when you're wearing it,"

Hidan couldn't believe what he was hearing, "What kind of freaking reason is that?! You don't commit to an organization hell-bent on world domination just because they had good-looking cloaks! Leader-baka, back me up on this!"

But the Leader didn't replied, so Hidan asked, "Leader-baka?" and then he saw the Leader and exclaimed, "Oiee! Leader, why are you worrying over that?!"

The Leader ended up crouching and twiddling his thumbs when he heard Naruto's criticism. He brooded over the flaws of Akatsuki's attire and muttered, "The cloak works… I mean… striking fear into your enemies is better than making it easier to go to the bathroom, right? That's why the cloak is the way it is…"

To see the Leader in such a state invoked pity in Hidan, so he tried to comfort him, "Leader-baka! Don't be upset! We all like wearing the cloaks, they look really good! They're good right guys?"

Deidara voiced his opinion, "They're pretty stylish, I guess. But I would've made the cloak look a little more… explosive. Hmm,"

However, Kisame admitted, "…they are difficult to go to the bathroom in,"

And Zetsu expressed his own dislikes, "The neckband is a little tight around my appendages…"

Kakuzu and Sasori didn't join the conversation though. Instead they were annoyed. Kakuzu sighed, "Why are we talking about something like this?" and Sasori pondered over leaving Akatsuki.

As all of this unfolded, Naruto suddenly announced to the Akatsuki, "Excuse me, I need to throw up," and then his hologram disappeared.

Hidan yelled in vain, "Oy! You can't just leave a sealing extraction! Get back here!"

"No, Hidan," the Leader picked himself up despite his wounded pride, "Leave as well and find out why he's throwing up, it could be from a weakness,"

"Or it could be the food poisoning," Kisame remarked sarcastically.

"What? Why me? The kid hates me, make Kakuzu go," Hidan protested.

Kakuzu's voice bellowed throughout the cave, "If I go, I'll make sure you suffer,"

Hidan rebuked, "You can't kill me, I'm immortal remember?"

To which Kakuzu replied, "Then I will cut off your head and limbs and scatter them across the world,"

Hidan recoiled at that threat, and thus relented. He disengaged his hologram and returned to his physical body far away from the River Country where the Akatsuki were sealing the Tailed Beast. When he opened his eyes, Naruto abruptly puked on his lap. For a brief moment, Hidan didn't do anything but give a serious face. Then, he recomposed himself and pushed Naruto off the large boulder they sat upon and screamed, "What the hell are you doing?!"

Naruto fell to the ground, but quickly recovered and wiped his mouth, "Sorry Rook, I couldn't hold out,"

"Rook? What the hell is 'Rook'?"

"It's what the 'Hi' in 'Hidan' means, doesn't it?"

"Even if it does, don't call me that. It's Hidan. Hi. Dan."

"Okay, Dan,"

"...Never mind, why are you throwing up? You're messing up the extraction,"

Naruto waved his hand, "It happens from time to time,"

"You make it sound like puking is common,"

"Meh, for me it is,"

"…You should probably get that checked out,"

"Nah, its fine. It's just a side effect of my jutsu,"

"Oh? What jutsu is that?"

"I don't think you know about it, Kisame does. It's a genjutsu and fuinjutsu combined,"

Hidan feigned interest. He knew he was close to important information, "Do tell,"

"I got it from that dildo that you wanted so badly,"

Hidan grinded his teeth together to restrain himself from trying to kill the blonde. "What does it do?" he asked.

"Well, genjutsu affects the mind. So basically I cast a genjutsu on a person's mind and I sort of… oh, what's the right word… seal their mind. I like... become the Jinchuuriki of their mind,"

"What?"

"It's difficult to explain, but either way the victim falls into a coma and never wakes up from it since I took their mind,"

"Then how does it cause you to throw up?"

"Well a guy can only handle so many minds in their head… sometimes they just spill out of you,"

"…So that stuff you're throwing up… is that their mind?"

When Naruto nodded, Hidan freaked out. He had a person's mind all over his cloak. If it were blood or entrails, then everything would be fine. But someone's consciousness physically on him disturbed Hidan, "Why the hell did you have to throw up on me?!"

Naruto only shrugged. He could care less about Hidan's distress, "I can't help when I throw up, it just happens,"

"You're sick! You're out to get me aren't you?! Do you like to screw with me or something?!"

As Naruto climbed up the boulder to where Kakuzu was, he told Hidan, "I haven't forgiven you for making me take that dildo,"

"You're still on that?! That wasn't even me!"

Naruto sat on the boulder and formed a hand sign. Before he projected his mind back to the River Country with the rest of Akatsuki, he cryptically told the man, "Everyone is you," and continued, "Quit whining and get back up here, the extraction process is only going to take longer if you dawdle,"

When Naruto and Hidan returned, Hidan nodded to the Leader to indicate he had some information on Naruto's technique. The Leader acknowledged Hidan's gesture, pleased to know they got something out of the ordeal. Now he can enjoy a Tailed Beast extraction in peace.

But the Leader's respite of satisfaction ended when Zetsu shared some alarming news, "Some ninja are approaching the hideout. They appear to be looking for the Jinchuuriki we captured,"

The Leader then cursed the whole situation, they just got through one ordeal with Naruto, and now there was ninja upon them that would disrupt the extraction. He chastised Deidara, "I told you to capture the Jinchuuriki quietly, not attract attention,"

"He was pretty difficult to capture," Deidara defended, "Leader-baka, would you rather have the Jinchuuriki or not? Hmm?"

"Why does everyone call me Leader-baka…" the Leader rubbed the temples of his head.

Sasori ignored the Leader's exasperation and took it upon himself to tell the group, "We need to take care of these ninja. It would be troublesome if they interrupted the extraction,"

"Who is willing to go? Hmm?"

Zetsu told the group, "Whoever goes should know that the enemy are Konoha ninja,"

"Then I'll delay them," Naruto quickly announced.

"You can't do that. You're not really at Sasori and Deidara's location," Hidan told the blonde.

Naruto asked his colleagues, "Wait," and his hologram disappeared. Then in a flash, Naruto physically appeared behind Deidara, "Yo," he said.

"Oy! How did you do that?! Hmm?!"

"I put a seal on you that lets me teleport to your location, real convenient isn't it?"

Deidara stopped extracting the Tailed Beast and looked over his body. When he discovered the seal behind his right shoulder, he shouted, "Why did you do that to me?!"

"Don't worry, I didn't single you out I put a seal on everyone,"

Upon hearing that, all of the Akatsuki disengaged their holograms and ceased the extraction of the One Tails and frantically searched their bodes for seals.

"Idiots! Can't you check that later?!" the Leader cursed.

"Let them look for it, I'm off to meet the Leaf," Naruto started to walk out of the cave.

"You stay here! We need you to seal off the Tailed Beast since everyone else left!"

Naruto sighed and crossed his fingers to make a shadow clone.

He looked away from the shadow clone, refusing to look at his own face. The shadow clone, likewise, didn't openly acknowledge Naruto, instead he jumped up to where Naruto was stationed and commenced the extraction. Naruto explained, "The shadow clone has enough chakra to finish the extraction in time. The others should be back after they found their seals, and I'll take my time toying with the Leaf,"

The blonde walked out of the cave eager to confront the Leaf shinobi.

* * *

A/N: thanks for reading my fanfic again! If you just read this story, thanks for reading this far. If you've read the story since it was posted, I revamped the first two chapters a bit to make it flow better and clarify a few points. The gist of it remains, so it isn't necessary to reread but I thought you should know anyways. : )


	4. Sasuke vs Naruto, the First Battle!

Chapter 4

Sasuke vs. Naruto, the First Battle!

* * *

Team 7 tracked the Akatsuki hideout in the River country. Originally, they expected to have a battalion of Sand ninja as backup, but the Hidden Sand Village refused to assist them. As they jumped from tree to tree, they only cursed at the Sand's unwillingness to help.

"They were a bunch of assholes if you ask me," Sasuke cussed, "Can't even help out their own comrade in a time of need. All they did was bicker amongst each other. They didn't give a rat's ass about Gaara,"

Kakashi noted, "I didn't think you would've cared for someone like Gaara, he did humiliate you in front of the entire village,"

"It's not that I care for the guy, because he is a sadistic prick. But he's their comrade, and that makes them worse than he could ever be," Sasuke replied.

Sakura agreed with Sasuke's sentiment, but only on the fact that they abandoned Gaara. She coldly calculated their strategic errors, "It is really a blunder for them. Gaara was the Jinchuuriki of their prized One Tailed Beast. Just abandoning a valuable asset like that is beyond stupid,"

Sasuke growled, "He may be a freak, but he's still a human,"

"A freak is hardly the right term," the young Hyuga, Hanabi, commented, "I overheard a few of the villagers: they rejoiced at the news of Gaara's abduction. Apparently the Jinchuuriki terrorized the villagers and would randomly kill people to satiate his bloodlust,"

"It was probably the One Tailed Beast," Kakashi informed his team, "The Beast is infamous for causing their host to go insane. On top of living an isolated life, it isn't surprising that he evolved into a sadistic psychopath,"

When he heard what his teammates said, Sasuke bit his tongue. While he wasn't the best ninja of Konoha, he was the most idealistic of his generation—he got this sense of morality from his brother, who was there to guide Sasuke in the ideals of justice and love even though he wasn't there to motivate Sasuke to become stronger.

The Will of Fire burned brightly within the ninja as he told his teammates in disgust, "I can't believe you guys. You treat him like he is some kind of monster. He's the victim! And what's worse is that he isn't the victim of the monster that's in him, he's the victim of people like you. Gaara's been treated like shit when he should be treated as a hero for bearing the burden of holding such a terrible creature. Now all I want to do is rescue him!" and then Sasuke sprinted ahead of the group.

"Oy! Sasuke, don't be so reckless!" Sakura yelled.

Hanabi warned the reckless Uchiha, "You'll get yourself killed!"

Sasuke kept moving forward yelling back, "Why don't you guys hurry up then?!"

"What a knucklehead…" Sakura sighed as she shook her head in disapproval.

But not everyone in Team 7 disapproved of Sasuke's behavior. Kakashi held a different opinion as the words of his past comrade echoed within his mind_. Never abandon a person in need. Never abandon a comrade in need._ It was ideals like that that made Kakashi what he was today. And to see his pupil inherit such a will made the jonin smile, "He's just like you, Obito, a ninja that may lack in skill but makes up in ideals,"

"Sasuke," Hanabi asked, "what's up with the sudden enthusiasm?"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"When I beat you all those times we sparred you didn't seem to care, why are you so motivated about saving this guy?"

"Hmph, because someone's life is on the line. I know you guys think I'm some lazy-ass who doesn't want to do anything…"

"Ha! You **are** a lazy-ass," Hanabi said.

The Uchiha ignored Hanabi's correction, "…But I have principles. Ideals that I think people need to live by. It pisses me off that the World is the way it is, that it treats people like shit, that people's lives suck for no real reason. It gets me so angry that I have to ignore it. I have to, because if I let my emotions get the best of me, I'd go insane. But now… now I feel like I can do something. I can save a life. I can save Gaara's life," Sasuke smiled confidently at Hanabi, "I **will **save Gaara,"

Sakura smiled when he heard the Uchiha express his emotions. For a brief moment, she thought the old Sasuke was back. The powerful, cool shinobi that won her heart. In truth, it wasn't the looks that stole her heart many years back. It was the passion, the morals—all of that made him seem heroic.

Sakura wanted someone who she could depend on for her entire life. To Sakura, the good looks and moral character made Sasuke the perfect guy. Sakura wondered if they would've been together had he stayed the same after the chunin exams. She tried to cling onto memories of the old, the good Sasuke as long as possible. It was those memories that made her truly happy.

But that tender moment ended with the sound of a familiar voice.

"Why don't you save me instead?" a voice teasingly said next to Sasuke.

Team 7 turned their heads to the left and their eyes widened.

A blonde, blue-eyed ninja dawning the cloak of Akatsuki jumped alongside Sasuke from tree to tree, putting all of Team 7 in shock.

"Well?" the blonde ninja grinned, "I'm right here, why don't you seize the opportunity?"

Before anyone from Team 7 knew it, Sasuke quickly weaved a hand sign and yelled, **Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!**

A giant fireball expelled from the Uchiha's mouth and he aimed it towards the Akatsuki, hoping to burn the ninja alive.

"Did I get him?" Sasuke asked himself.

But to Team 7's dismay, the Akatsuki was unharmed. His hand glowed with chakra and the fireball that would've hit him was promptly cut in half by said hand.

"He took out Sasuke's attack!" Hanabi yelled in surprise.

Kakashi remained silent and thought, "He took out Sasuke's jutsu only using his own hand, he's got to be strong…"

The Akatsuki's hand steamed and sizzled from cutting the fireball in half, so he frantically waved his hand to try and cool it. "Ahhh! That hurt!" Then he blew on his hand while chiding Team 7, "A simple 'no' would've sufficed!"

"…then again, maybe he isn't that strong," Kakashi thought.

Sasuke ignored the Akatsuki's pain shouting, "Oy, baka! Where's Gaara?!"

However, the Akatsuki was worried with his own well-being more than the Sand's Jinchuuriki, "At least show a little concern, that fireball could've killed me!"

"Why should we be concerned with him?" Hanabi commented.

"Oh, Hinata!" the Akatsuki mistook Hanabi for someone he knew, "It's been a while, how are things holding up?"

"Eh? Hinata? I'm Hanabi, you dimwit, don't compare me to my loser sister!"

"Hinata did you hit your head?"

"I told you I'm not Hinata I'm Hanabi! Ha-na-bi!"

"Oy, Sakura-chan, I think Hinata hit her head. Could you look at it?"

"How do you know my name?!" Sakura asked surprised.

"We're classmates right? Ah, Sakura-chan don't tell me you forgot my name!"

"Who the hell are you?! I don't know you!"

"Who am I?" the Akatsuki chuckled. The fact that his former classmates couldn't remember someone such as him was surprising, but not devastating to him. The Akatsuki thought he left an impact in their lives, but apparently it wasn't a big enough impact. This was going to be fun, he thought. Now he can show off how strong he became over the years, and the look on their faces would be priceless. The shinobi decided to announce one of his names to remind them, "I'm the Show-Off, Number One Unpredictable, Noisy Ninja of Konoha!"

Everyone except Hanabi widened their eyes in surprise.

The ninja grinned at the expression on their faces. "So I take it you remember who I am," the ninja commented.

Sakura was shocked, "Naruto?!"

Naruto corrected Sakura, "It isn't Naruto. It's the Fifth Mizukage,"

Then Kakashi's eyes widened further. For Naruto to make such a claim disturbed the jonin, because it meant that he far surpassed all of the Leaf ninja present. If he really was the Fifth Mizukage, it meant that he was the one who wiped out half of the Hidden Mist Village, a merciless shinobi who would have no qualms ending their lives.

Needless to say, the fact that someone like Naruto was accepted into a group like Akatsuki stunned Sasuke and Sakura. The last time they saw the blonde was when he spectacularly failed the Genin exam a few years ago. He was a failure—a ninja with average taijutsu, terrible ninjutsu, and non-existent genjutsu. But not now. Now the blonde ninja displayed near perfect chakra control and ninjutsu with only one hand. The chunins' minds failed to compute how this could've happened. How did he get so strong in just a few years? How could this knucklehead ninja compete with S-rank criminals like the Monster of the Hidden Mist or Sasori of the Red Sand? It wasn't possible, he can't be that powerful.

But while Sasuke and Sakura were stunned at such news, Hanabi remained in the dark. She was younger than either of her teammates and did not know of Naruto. She asked out loud, "Who is this guy?"

Her sensei explained, "He's Uzumaki Naruto, a former citizen of Konoha. He's been in Sasuke and Sakura's grade back in Ninja Academy but after he killed Mizuki and Iruka, he's been considered a defector and an A-rank criminal in the Land of Fire,"

"It's not Naruto. It's the Fourth Hokage's Blunder. And I'm still A-rank? Are you sure I'm not S-rank?"

"No, you're not," Kakashi told Naruto.

"Eh?! Why am I not S-rank?! I'm the Fifth Mizukage!"

Kakashi tried to remain skeptical, refusing to believe that he was the Fifth Mizukage, "That's debatable. No one knows the identity of the Fifth Mizukage,"

"But you know now!"

"Anyone can say that they're the Fifth Mizukage," Sasuke commented.

Naruto sighed, "Still annoying as ever, Sasuke,"

"Everyone, be careful," Kakashi warned, "Whether he is the Fifth Mizukage or not doesn't matter, he still must be powerful enough to be in Akatsuki,"

"Evidently not powerful enough, I'm not even S-rank," Naruto grumbled, "Can you guys keep it a secret? It's kind of a requirement for Akatsuki to be S-rank, just pretend I'm S-rank now, okay?"

"Like hell I would!" Sasuke yelled, "If you don't tell us where Gaara is, than get out of our way!"

Then Sasuke activated his Sharingan and produced lightning in his hand. After yelling, **Chidori!** The Uchiha charged Naruto, intending to impale the blonde with his most powerful jutsu.

Kakashi shouted, "Sasuke! Don't!"

But Sasuke ignored Kakashi's warning, only grinning, "I can take this loser, he's nothing but a washout last time I saw him,"

Upon seeing the Uchiha charging at him, Naruto feigned astonishment, "Oh, Sasuke what a powerful move! You really live up to your name as a prodigy!"

Then as Sasuke approached Naruto, Naruto firmly grasped Sasuke's wrist and dispelled the lightning technique. He looked Sasuke in his two-tomoe Sharingan and teasingly told his classmate, "But then I wouldn't be S-rank if I fell for that silly jutsu now would I?"

"He dispelled another of Sasuke's jutsus!" Hanabi yelled in astonishment.

Sakura grinded her teeth, "Damn it, He got stronger. And faster too, Chidori was Sasuke's fastest attack,"

Kakashi lifted his forehead protector from his left eye, revealing a vertical scar across his past friend's Sharingan, "It looks like I might have to use that jutsu," and then his Sharingan morphed into a Mangekyo Sharingan.

Even though his attack failed, Sasuke remained resolute and tried to strike Naruto with his other hand. But Naruto grabbed Sasuke's fist and then used leverage to hurl the ninja towards Team 7.

When Sasuke's body hit the ground, Naruto informed his classmate, "You have impressive prowess in jutsus, but you kind of suck attacking with them,"

"Shut up!" Sasuke yelled as he pulled himself up, "With my Sharingan I can copy every jutsu you attack me with. We'll be evenly matched!"

"That's funny! Your Sharingan isn't even fully matured, how is it going to pose a threat to me? True, it could be troublesome for a second-rate ninja, but you're fighting a top-notch ninja—the One-Man Blight!" then Naruto swiftly weaved hand signs, and before Sasuke's Sharingan could copy his technique, Naruto finished and slapped the Earth with his hand yelling, **Doton: Doryutsunami!**

The Earth shook beneath the ninja.

"I'm feeling a massive buildup of chakra surrounding Naruto!" Sakura yelled in amazement.

Naruto corrected Sakura, "It isn't Naruto! It's the Demon Fox!" and swiveled his hand on the Earth. A wall of stone and mud rose from the ground and surrounded the Akatsuki. When Naruto swiveled his hand in the opposite direction, the wall then branched out in all directions, becoming a large wave. Sasuke and the rest of Team 7 fled the scene, avoiding the massive tidal wave that was approaching them. The wave leveled the forests and rock formations in all directions, forming a barren field that extended miles in every direction.

Team 7 cowered behind the trees, refusing to meet Naruto head on. There was no way they could take him head on, the fact that he made a wasteland in only seconds proved his overwhelming power.

Naruto cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Guys! I made an arena for us to spar on! Come on out!"

Hanabi whispered, "This guy is ridiculously strong! We need to get out of here!"

"No!" Sasuke exclaimed, "We need to rescue Gaara!"

"Sasuke, quiet down," Kakashi whispered, "We need to analyze the situation before we do anything rash. The worst thing we could do is recklessly retreat or attack without knowing what we're dealing with,"

Sakura agreed, "Let's pool everything we know about Naruto and think up of a strategy,"

"I told you it isn't Naruto," Naruto whispered in Sakura's ear, "It's Kumo's Tengu,"

Team 7's eyes widened while Sakura shrieked in horror. They quickly dispersed to escape Naruto.

"You can run all you want," Naruto laughed, "but with seals that I put on you guys I can teleport to you with no problem!" then he disappeared in a flash.

Each member of Team 7 ran around in circles and zigzag patterns to get Naruto off their trail.

* * *

Sakura ran frantically away from the Demon Fox, she couldn't believe he found them so quickly. The ninja wasn't the harmless prankster anymore, he was a psychotic killer in her eyes. The playful expression during combat, the powerful jutsus, and his God-like speed… it all spelled danger for Team 7. It was at that moment that Sakura believed the once annoying, orange ninja is now capable of killing her in a blink of an eye. The orange ninja that was the class clown and prankster, the orange ninja that would give her a stupid grin every time she passed him, The orange ninja that begged her to come with him when he fled Konoha … that boy was gone, he isn't in that killer's eyes.

Sakura tripped over a tree's root and cursed herself for not looking ahead. A hand offered to pull her up, and Naruto's voice kindly said, "Oy, Sakura, why are you fleeing from me? Are we playing tag? Am I the guy everyone runs away from?"

Then Sakura screeched in horror, and ran in the opposite direction until she made it out to the barren field Naruto created.

Naruto laughed a little, "It's good to see old friends again," and then disappeared in a flash.

* * *

Kakashi jumped from tree to tree. He used his Sharingan to detect any slight movement that could be the enemy. "This is bad," Kakashi thought to himself, "Naruto only used one jutsu and he managed to separate us from each other… was he really the Fifth Mizukage?"

Before Kakashi could think more about the situation, Naruto suddenly jumped alongside him. He tipped his hand off to the jonin and playfully told him, "Found you,"

"Shibata!" Kakashi cursed as he jumped to the ground. Naruto followed him to face the jonin. Kakashi feigned confidence as he told the blonde, "Surrender now and you won't be hurt,"

Naruto declined, "We both know I won't do that,"

"As a traitor of Konoha, it is my duty to bring you in or kill you. You choose which fate to have,"

"Eh?" Naruto adjusted the goggles on his forehead, a subtle reminder that he never officially swore loyalty to Konoha, "How can I be a traitor of Konoha when I'm not even a ninja of Konoha?"

"You were born in Konoha, you lived in Konoha, and you killed fellow citizens of Konoha! All of that constitutes a traitor of the Village Hidden in the Leaves," Kakashi accused.

Naruto couldn't think of anything worth saying. They were all valid points, so he muttered, "Meh," then attacked Kakashi.

He produced kunai and threw them towards Kakashi. Kakashi managed to evade or deflect all of the kunai but was also distracted. Since Kakashi wasn't focusing on him, Naruto approached the jonin and attempted to land a punch.

Kakashi barely avoided the blow and jumped over the ninja. He produced shuriken in his hands and quickly flung them at the unsuspecting member of Akatsuki. The shuriken hit Naruto's back with a large thud and he collapsed to the ground.

Kakashi sighed in relief, "He doesn't seem to be as powerful as I thought. Maybe I have a chance,"

But then Naruto's body turned into a log, revealing it to be a Substitution Jutsu.

Naruto held a kunai pointed at Kakashi's back, and told the jonin, "How disappointing, this was a short fight…" then stabbed him in the back.

But it too was not the real article, as the body burst into smoke. "A Shadow Clone, eh? He must've ran off to find the rest of the team…"

Then Naruto again disappeared in a flash.

* * *

While Sakura was freaked out at the sight of Naruto, Hanabi maintained a calm demeanor. Since the Hyuga didn't know Naruto personally, she wasn't astonished to the point that she would freak out like Sakura and thus was able to keep herself levelheaded. The Hyuga flung kunai attached with exploding paper in all sorts of directions and set other traps for Naruto to spring. When she reached a cliff, she entrenched herself and kept her Byakugan activated.

But Hanabi's efforts were in vain as Naruto suddenly appeared behind the Hyuga. His demeanor wasn't as friendly as it was with the rest of Team 7. "You may be Hinata's sister, but since you don't know me your of little consequence," he said. And before Hanabi could react, Naruto promptly made a seal with one hand and said, **Shihohirutama**.

In a few seconds, Hanabi was trapped in a genjutsu and her mind was sealed into his body. Without a mind to command it, Hanabi's body collapsed to the ground. After which, Naruto coarsely grabbed the Hyuga by the collar of her neck and both of their bodies disappeared in a flash.

* * *

When the rest of Team 7 tried to flee the scene, Sasuke jumped out into the barren field instead challenged Naruto, "Oy! Baka! Get out here and face me like you said you would!"

When his response was only silence, he yelled in frustration, "Coward!" and cursed his misfortune. Every second he was here messing around with Naruto, was every second that Gaara's life was being drained away. It was something Sasuke felt like he couldn't live with, he felt that he couldn't forgive himself for letting Gaara die in such a way. No one deserved such a pathetic death.

Before Sasuke could brood more, Sakura suddenly appeared running frantically toward the ninja. Her eyes were shut as she ran towards Sasuke and before either of them could react, Sakura ran into Sasuke and fell to the ground.

Then Kakashi jumped out from the forest, and approached his teammates. "Are you all okay?"

"Yeah, now that we're together," Sakura sighed, relieved to of found some friendly faces.

"Sakura… get off…" Sasuke grumbled.

Sakura apologized, "Sorry," and pulled Sasuke up to his feet.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto appeared and I couldn't fend him off by myself. I went to find you two so we could fight him together since we'd have a better chance," Kakashi informed the two.

"Are you sure you saw, Naruto? I saw him too, so how could he be in two places at the same time?" Sakura asked.

"Who knows," Kakashi replied, "It could be a Shadow Clone, or some type of teleportation jutsu. But enough of that, where's Hanabi?"

Naruto replied from behind Sasuke, "Right here," and tossed Hanabi's lifeless body towards the team. Hanabi's body made a thud as it hit the ground while the rest of Team 7 looked in horror.

"What did you do to her?!" Sasuke demanded.

"She would've gotten in the way so I sealed her away," Naruto replied.

"You bastard…" Sasuke clenched his fists. He would've charged if Kakashi didn't put his hand on his shoulder.

Sakura reminded him, "Don't be reckless or you'll end up like Hanabi,"

Sasuke knew Sakura was right. Naruto was too powerful to take on alone. But he didn't want to admit that he would be bested by Naruto. To admit that he was weak was something that was hard to swallow—a painful reminder to his ego about how far he has deteriorated as a ninja.

"You guys want to have some fun?" Naruto grinned.

"You call this fun?!" Sasuke growled.

"Sparring has always been a good pastime of mine. It brings back all sorts of memories,"

"Yeah?! Well no one gives a shit about your memories!"

"I do! I give a shit! I always gave a shit! And you know what?! You should too! Because memories are what make you happy!"

"What sort of twisted memories do you get from killing people?!"

"The kinds that make you excited! Excited and pumped up to fight some more! Like when I killed my first victim! Or the kind where I saw the terror in other people's eyes! The kind that makes you laugh over your failures! And the kind that makes you hate yourself! There's nothing more exhilarating than hating yourself! Self-hatred is the ultimate motivator! It either kills off the ones who shouldn't live or makes the strong ones stronger!" Naruto started to laugh manically, "You can't possibly imagine what I'm feeling right now, can't you?! Can't you?!"

"You're crazy!" Sasuke yelled, "You're a monster that needs to be stopped!"

"And who would do that?!"

"I will! I will stop you if its the last thing I do!"

"Oh?!" Naruto laughed, "Come and try!"

"Sasuke! Don't!" Sakura yelled, but alas the Uchiha's emotions got the best of him.

He charged towards Naruto, forming hand seals and yelling, **Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!**

Then the Uchiha blew small fireballs with shuriken concealed within them. The volley was sent flying towards the Akatsuki, who was unimpressed with the jutsu. He sighed, "Sasuke, do you think so lowly of me? Can't you whip up something stronger than this?"

"Uruse!" Sasuke yelled, with his chakra he controlled each small fireball and surrounded the Akatsuki.

Naruto didn't bat an eye at the incoming fireballs, instead he chuckled, "I applaud your ability to manipulate chakra, it makes a pretty display, but that isn't going to stop a beast like me," then he weaved his own set of hand signs and while he breathed in air yelled, **Futon: Shinku Renpa!**

The blonde exhaled short bursts of air in different directions. The bursts of air became blades of wind that directly hit every fireball Sasuke created. Without the fireballs holding them, the shuriken clanked as they fell to the ground.

Sasuke's Sharingan didn't see it coming, when Naruto suddenly appeared right in front of him. The ninja grabbed Sasuke's neck, choking him as he lifted the Uchiha's body off the ground and up into the air. Naruto formed a hand sign and smirked, "I've waited a while for this," then announced his jutsu, **Shihohirutama**.

Sasuke fell into a genjutsu. He found himself in a dark, wet place with no visible way out of it. And behind him appeared a giant form of Naruto, who held out a small glittering orb. He placed the orb into the water next to Sasuke, who melted into the water that he stood upon.

The orb started to suck the Uchiha in, to which Sasuke was powerless to do anything about. When he was finally sealed within the orb, Naruto lifted the orb containing Sasuke's mind, and chuckled, "Sayonara, Sasuke,"

And the Uchiha looked in horror as Naruto opened his mouth, intending to drink him. He frantically looked around, "There must be something…" but he couldn't find anything to hold on to. There was nothing there to help Sasuke—only himself.

So he shut his eyes tight, not wanting to see what would happen next.

But he couldn't wait for his end to come. Sasuke didn't want to die, he wanted to live.

"I got to have something," Sasuke thought to himself, "I got to have something in me that will defeat this jutsu,"

Dying in such a pathetic way is a shameful act. He couldn't face his father in the afterlife after what would happen here. But there was nothing to help him, there was nothing this time. There was no one he could ask for help. There was nothing he can use. The only thing he had was himself.

"There's got to be something I can do," Sasuke told himself, "I'm talented I should know what to do,"

And indeed he was a talented ninja hailed as a genius of his generation. And now it was time to prove such talent.

"I can do it," Sasuke told himself. He opened his eyes wide and activated his Sharingan, yelling out, "I can do it!"

And then the eyes that he was born with changed. Before he wasn't truly motivated to do anything, but now it'll be different; because he found the greatest motivation out there—the will to live.

His two-tomoe Sharingan now became three-tomoe. And with his matured eyes, he shouted, "**Sharingan**!"

And then right as Naruto started to drink Sasuke, he stopped. Whatever Sasuke's Sharingan did, it worked. But not the way Sasuke thought it would.

Voices started whispering throughout the realm, soft at first but it grew louder and louder as time went by. For the most part, the voices were saying gibberish: nonsensical phrases and sentences that confused the two shinobi.

The noises made Naruto uneasy. He felt like he heard himself talking, but he knew he didn't say anything. Something was forcing itself into his genjutsu, something that he couldn't control. The blonde thought Sasuke created a counter-genjutsu, but he could tell Sasuke became just as uneasy as he did.

Then the whisper became so loud that one sentence could be heard by both shinobi, and it sent shivers down their spine.

The voice bellowed throughout the realm, _You're not hurt are you, scaredy cat?_

Then Naruto choked and started coughing. He dropped the orb that contained Sasuke, and as the orb hit the floor it shattered.

Sasuke broke free of the genjutsu, only to find himself lying on the floor with Sakura violently shaking him to wake up. The Uchiha tried to move, but he found himself drained of all his energy. He could move his eyes, however, and looked around for the blonde ninja that put him in such a state. He found the ninja on his knees a few meters away.

Naruto breathed heavily, gasping for air as if he was being choked. He didn't know what was happening, a Sharingan shouldn't have been able to disrupt his genjutsu—nothing could once it was in motion. Yet, here he was, on his knees dealing with the aftermath of a failed jutsu.

He felt dazed and nauseous, unable to think coherently. When the blonde tried to get up, he instead started puking. Water poured from his mouth and onto the dry, dusted Earth beneath him. He coughed as he fought his stomach and gasped for air in the brief respite that resulted from his struggle. But then his stomach got the better of him and the blonde started puking water again—only this time more violently with traces of blood in it.

It felt as if he was throwing up his own guts. Naruto tried to pick himself up, but slipped on the muddy surface that resulted from his vomit. When he hit the floor, Naruto expelled more of his fluids until finally, when he sat knee high in a puddle of water, the puking stopped and he regained control of his body.

He sat up and clutched his chest. Gasping for air, Naruto yelled at the Uchiha, "What the fuck did you do to me?!"

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading!


	5. Enter: Yata

Chapter 5

Enter: Yata

* * *

"Chikuso…" Naruto cursed as he pushed himself up, "I'm going to tear that fucker apart…"

It took enormous effort to drag himself up. In addition to being fatigued from Sasuke's counter-attack, the blonde's cloak was drenched with the water he upchucked, which weighted him down.

When the blonde did get up, he decided to use a Wind Release technique to slice his foes as payment for making him violently throw up. But after lifting his arms up and performing the right seal, nothing happened.

"**You don't have any chakra to spare,"** **a voice bellowed within Naruto.**

"What? How? The genjutsu I used shouldn't have drained that much chakra," Naruto spoke out loud.

"**Whatever that Uchiha did to you, it shattered your chakra pathways. So you may have a lot of chakra left, but you have little to use since it fragmented,"**

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do, ojiisan?"

**The Nine Tailed Fox chuckled within Naruto, "I have a plan, but you might not like it…"**

* * *

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke breathed heavily, "Yeah, just help me up,"

Kakashi jumped in front of his two students, "Don't push yourself, Sasuke," Kakashi advised, "I don't know what happened, but a lot of your life force has been sapped,"

As Sakura picked Sasuke up, the Uchiha insisted, "Its fine. We can't afford to go easy with him. He's insanely strong,"

"I know I saw the whole thing. His genjutsu was so fast I didn't even have time to react,"

"His genjutsu didn't work though,"

"What do you mean?"

"Something happened. I used my Sharingan and then we both started hearing voices. I felt my energy drain but it looked like Naruto's energy was drained too,"

"I see… so if he's drained too than we might have a chance,"

"Maybe…"

"Sakura," Kakashi ordered, "You and I will attack Naruto head on. Sasuke, since you don't seem to have much chakra left, you'll be our support,"

Sakura and Sasuke nodded. And just as they were about to attack, they heard Naruto curse, "Fuck, that's a horrible plan. I hate Yata,"

"Eh?" Sakura questioned, "Why is he talking to himself,"

"Who knows, he was crazy to begin with," Sasuke remarked.

Naruto announced to himself, "I can handle this by myself!" and threw off his drenched Akatsuki cloak.

"What's he doing?" Kakashi asked himself.

With his cloak off, Naruto revealed his body to his enemies. He wore a mesh shirt underneath a black jacket and jonin trousers with ninja sandals. To the Leaf ninja's curiosity, Naruto's left arm was significantly larger than his right, which looked emaciated.

With his left arm, Naruto produced a kunai from his back holster and Team 7 tensed in response.

Kakashi produced a kunai himself and said, "He's going to attack, get him before he moves!" then quickly charged Naruto before he had time to react.

With himself drained, Naruto didn't have the speed to dodge Kakashi's charge and was forced into a deadlock with his kunai pressing back on Kakashi's kunai.

"Sakura! He's stuck, now's your chance!" Kakashi yelled.

Sakura acknowledged and produced her own kunai to stab Naruto in the belly.

"**Naruto!" the Fox shouted, "You have no choice, summon Yata!"**

Naruto managed to push Kakashi back and hurl his kunai at Sakura, who stopped to deflect the incoming weapon.

"Ojiisan, just give me some of yours," Naruto said.

"Whose ojiisan?" Sakura asked.

"Just ignore it, he's a dobe," Saskue said.

"**I can't! Weren't you listening?! Your chakra pathways are shattered! We'd be wasting our time if I tried to give you my chakra. Use what little chakra you can use and summon Yata!"**

Naruto sighed, "Fuck, I'm going to regret this," and bit down on his right hand. With his left hand he gathered some of his blood and formed the seal of the Boar.

Kakashi recognized Naruto's intentions and yelled to his teammates, "Sasuke! Sakura! Attack him now before he summons something!"

"Shit," Naruto cursed.

Kakashi quickly produced Raikiri, Sasuke produced Chidori, and Sakura produced her whole arsenal of ninja weapons.

Kakashi and Sasuke charged Naruto with their lightning jutsus. By an inch, Naruto managed to jump high enough into the air and avoid being impaled by either of their attacks. In that time, he managed to form the seal for Dog.

Sakura took her chance, and hurled kunai wrapped in explosive tags. When they were within range of Naruto, she activated the tags in midair and they exploded. Most of them missed Naruto however, and he kicked away the kunai that was about to hit him before it exploded. In that time, he managed to form the seal for Bird.

Sasuke disengaged his Chidori and formed the seal for his Great Fireball Jutsu. He yelled, **Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu! **And expelled a fireball from his mouth and aimed to Naruto who fell to the ground. Naruto rolled on the ground to avoid the fireball, and swiped Sakura's legs with his own foot to make her fall. In that time, he managed to form the seal for Monkey.

"Stop him! He only has one seal left to form!" Kakashi yelled as he charged Naruto with his Raikiri again. Naruto smirked as he jumped behind Sasuke to use him as a shield. Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks in the nick of time before he impaled the Uchiha. In that time, Naruto managed to form the seal for Ram.

The blonde sighed, "This is going to suck," then slapped his hand on the ground yelling, **Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**

"Crap!" Sasuke yelled. A puff of smoke appeared and Team 7 couldn't see what possible beast Naruto had summoned.

"Could it be a dragon?" Sasuke wondered.

And Sakura thought, "Maybe a demon of some sort?"

Kakashi remained silent and tense. Preparing himself for whatever monstrosity, the Akatsuki could've summoned.

When the smoke finally dissipated, Team 7 looked down at their feet to find a three-legged crow.

"Um…What is that?" Sakura asked.

The three-legged crow only squawked, "CAW!"

"I know you don't like to be summoned Yata-sempai…" Naruto reluctantly told the three-legged crow.

"CAW!" it cried in response.

"…but I'm in a bind and could use some help,"

"CAW!"

Team 7 was flabbergasted.

"Isn't that just a regular crow?" Sasuke asked.

"No… I think it's a crow with three legs," Sakura replied.

"That could be a shadow…"

Kakashi used his Sharingan to identify the creature before them, "No, it really does have three legs and it looks like it is a crow,"

"CAW!" the crow cried.

Naruto tried to explain as the crow continued to hop around and caw, "He's not just a crow," he stated, "He's a powerful bird with overarching knowledge of the Ninja World,"

"CAW!" the crow squawked once more.

"Yeah… I doubt that," Sasuke said.

"I'm telling you he's no ordinary crow," Naruto insisted, "And I'd respect him if I were you, he's really touchy,"

"CAW! CAW!"

Sakura remarked, "It probably would have insecurity issues since it has three legs instead of two…"

"CAW!"

"I feel kind of sad for the thing… it looks almost pitiful," Kakashi sighed.

"Why doesn't anyone believe me? I'm telling you, the bird is a beast!" Naruto claimed.

"CAW!"

"No, I know crows are beasts. They're the most annoying creatures to ever walk the face of the Earth," Sasuke replied.

"He's more than that. Yata-sempai is just acting like a regular crow to piss me off,"

Sasuke remarked, "It doesn't even look like a crow… it looks more like a black chicken,"

Suddenly, the crow squawked, "What did you say, punk?"

Team 7 looked in surprise at the crow.

"Ah, he's acting normal now," Naruto said.

"Call me that again. I dare you, c'mon, do it. Call me a chicken!" the crow started hopping madly.

"There's no need to get worked up about it, Yata-sempai,"

"Worked up?! Do you know how many times I've been called that?"

"What? A chicken?"

"Yes, a black chicken!"

Naruto shrugged, "Who knows and who cares. That's what you get for squawking all over the place and getting fat,"

"I ought to tear you a new one! Get over here! Just get over here so I can peck your eyes out!"

"I'd like to see you try, you stuffed chicken,"

"When I'm done with you I-"

Sasuke interrupted, "This is a waste of time. Naruto, get out of our way if all you've got is this black chicken to fight wit- AHHHH, IT HURTS IT HURTS!" The crow flew up to Sasuke and started to angrily peck at him.

When he was satisfied with leaving Sasuke's head in a bloody mess, he flew over to Naruto and perched on his shoulder warning Team 7, "Don't ever interrupt me when I'm speaking,"

"This crow has some issues…" Sakura remarked.

"Now, Naruto-kun, what is it that you want? It better be quick, I hate doing your job for you," Yata the crow cawed.

Naruto corrected the crow, "It isn't Naruto. It's Captain of the Emperor's Guard,"

"CAW! You're still on that name thing? Just live with the fact that you're Naruto for crying out loud! Honestly. It's so annoying,"

"It isn't Naruto. It's-"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it: you're not what you're supposed to be. Now, what do you want? I thought I trained you specifically so you _won't_ bother me again,"

"I need you to repair my chakra pathways,"

"What happened to them?"

"They got shattered by that son of a bitch you pecked,"

Yata eyed Sasuke who was still wincing in pain. Sakura tended to his wounds while Kakashi observed Naruto's conversation. Yata knew they were being closely monitored but ignored that fact.

"How did a runt like him shatter your chakra pathways?" Yata asked.

"When I was using Shihohirutama, he-"

"You're still using that jutsu?! Didn't I tell you not to?!"

"Yes… sempai you told me,"

"Then why did you do that?!"

"Because…"

"Because what? There is no reason why you should even use that jutsu to begin with. It's a forbidden technique for a reason!"

Naruto sighed, "Kami-sama, here we go…"

"…that technique stretches you to its limit. Your psyche can't handle that many minds sealed in you! Besides! You shouldn't need to use such a jutsu to begin with! I trained you in all elemental techniques, I helped you cooperate more with that arrogant fox of yours, I did everything in my being to make you so strong that you wouldn't need that jutsu! And what do you do? You don't respect me as a teacher! You don't listen to me when it counts! You run off and do exactly what I tell you not to do! And here we are now because you didn't listen to me!"

"So are you going to help me or not?"

"Of course I will! What do you take me for?!

"Well you made it sound like I don't deserve your help,"

"Hmph, you're my student and what kind of teacher would I be if I didn't help my student?"

Then Yata the Crow closed his eyes, and synced his chakra with Naruto's. As he evaluated Naruto's chakra pathways he remarked, "That runt really did a number on your system. If you didn't call me, you probably never could do ninjutsu ever again. CAW!"

"Just heal me,"

"It may take some time," Yata told Naruto, "you think you can battle with just taijutsu?"

"Yeah… I think I can manage,"

Yata stood on Naruto's shoulder and perched in a somewhat meditative state. While it looked like the crow just rested on Naruto's shoulder, Yata really was using his mind to mend Naruto's broken pathways.

Naruto took in a deep breath, "Well, I heard a best defense was a good offense…" and decided to charge Team 7.

"Here he comes!" Kakashi shouted.

Naruto formed a fist with his left hand and attempted to punch Kakashi square in the face. Kakashi managed to use both of his hands to grab the fist but Naruto maneuvered his leg to swipe Kakashi's legs with his foot.

Kakashi's hands landed on the ground before his body, and used the leverage to propel himself upward and flip back to the rest of his team. As Kakashi jumped back, Sasuke formed hand seals and yelled **Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu! **Then he expelled small fireballs from his mouth and used chakra to maneuver them towards Naruto.

Naruto smirked, "That's not going to work on me twice, dattebayo!"

Then Naruto was taken by surprise asking himself, "Did I just say dattebayo? I thought I got rid of that-"

"Oy!" Yata pecked Naruto's head, "Snap out of it!"

Naruto shook his head a bit and noticed the fireballs Sasuke made come dangerously close. He managed to dodge them in the nick of time and the fireballs dissipated once they missed him. But then Naruto suddenly felt restrained, his arms and legs felt like they were bound tightly by something. When he looked at Sasuke, he found the Uchiha manipulating long elastic cords with his hands and that he was tied up in a net of said cords.

The Akatsuki looked around him to find that the fireballs he dodged had shuriken hidden within, and that the shuriken were attached to cords that tied him up. "Heh, guess I didn't give you enough credit…"he muttered.

Then Sasuke formed hand seals yelling **Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu! **After which, the Uchiha breathed fire along one of the cord, which rushed to Naruto and seemingly set him ablaze.

But once the fire burned out, Naruto's body couldn't be found. But in its place was a hole burrowed presumably by Naruto. Then Naruto pushed through the Earth and took Sakura by surprise. He roughly grabbed her wrist and playfully told the kunoichi, "Tag! You're it!"

But Sakura unexpectedly giggled. Naruto raised an eyebrow, not expecting such a response from the girl that ran away from him in fear before. Then he suddenly felt blood run from his mouth and a sharp, stabbing pain come from his back. He soon realized that it was a genjutsu.

Naruto quickly dispelled the genjutsu and when he awakened found Sakura a few feet away from him and Sasuke digging a kunai into his back. Naruto ignored the shooting pain and praised Sakura, "Heh, it's been awhile since I was tricked into a genjutsu,"

Sakura told him, "I had to be good at something or else I wouldn't be a chunin,"

The pink-haired kunoichi quickly produced a kunai and ran up to Naruto to stab him in the chest. But Naruto grabbed Sasuke and threw the surprised Uchiha at Sakura. Sasuke fell onto Sakura and the both of them were sprawling on the floor.

But Naruto didn't gain the upper hand, as ninja hounds suddenly erupted from the ground and buried their fangs into Naruto's body; restraining the blonde dead in his tracks.

Kakashi walked calmly up to the restrained ninja, a handful of lightning chakra in his hand ready to impale the blonde.

"Didn't expect that, Kakashi-sensei" Naruto grinned.

Kakashi was taken aback by being referred to as sensei. He looked at Naruto, who was equally confused to have referred to his enemy as a teacher. Kakashi tried to ignore the peculiarity and take down Naruto while he still could.

Naruto realized his life was in danger and decided to bear with the pain. He took the jonin by surprise as he pulled himself out of the hounds' jaws through sheer will alone. The flesh tore off his body as he kicked and punched them off, leaving the blonde free but a bloody mess.

Kakashi's eyes widened, "Just what are you?"

Even while his body was riddled with fang marks and tears in his skin, Naruto remained relentless. He punched and kicked Kakashi's hounds until they teleported back to their homes far away. He breathed heavily as he informed the jonin, "I've been through worse. Shinobi are meant to endure after all, right?"

Kakashi muttered, "Guess I have no choice…" and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and sighed, "I have to use that jutsu,"

Naruto noticed the change in Kakashi's eyes from the standard tomoe to a unique pattern, "Oh? A Mangekyo Sharingan? Haven't seen one of those in a long time,"

Kakashi unleashed his jutsu by yelling **Kamui!**

The space around Naruto's bloody body started to distort, and the blonde could feel himself being pulled into a different realm.

Naruto asked, "Yata, do I have enough?" To which the crow nodded in response. Naruto then disappeared in a flash and quickly reappeared behind Kakashi.

Kakashi asked in surprise, "How did you-?"

"The Flying Thunder God Technique… I placed a seal on you a while back, and the seal allowed me to teleport to your location,"

"So you learned your father's signature jutsu…"

"If my old man became Fourth Hokage because of it, why shouldn't I use it?"

"You knew your father was Hokage?"

"Of course I knew, I knew for a long time,"

"Then why are you fighting the Leaf? Wouldn't your father be upset that his own son is killing the very people he died protecting?"

Naruto took out a three-bladed kunai: his father's own variation of kunai and placed it near Kakashi's neck. He justified his actions by saying, "Father will punish me in due time,"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. Just die," and prepared to slice the veins in Kakashi's neck.

But before Naruto could slice them, Kakashi grabbed onto Naruto's bloody arm tattered with loose flesh and threw the blonde away from him.

Because of his wounds, Naruto couldn't properly land on his feet and instead tumbled onto the ground. He staggered as he picked himself up. His body had loose flesh flipping in the wind all over him, and his jacket was drenched with his own blood. Small puddles of blood were forming beneath Naruto's feet. The blonde needed access to his chakra or he'll die from blood loss alone. Luckily, Yata informed the ninja, "Your pathway system is healed. I suggest you use some of Kurama's chakra to heal you,"

"Right," Naruto nodded to Yata, "You heard that Ojii-san?"

"**Yes, and try not to get yourself killed this time," Kurama chuckled. **

Naruto sighed as his body started to rejuvenate, "I mess up once and everyone thinks I can't take care of myself,"

While Naruto healed himself, Kakashi nearly collapsed.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled as she and Sasuke ran up to him, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Kakashi replied, "but Kamui used up the last of my chakra…" and he placed his forehead protector over his left eye to deactivate his Sharingan.

Sakura placed the palm of her hands on Kakashi's back and said, "Here, let me use some Medical Ninjutsu,"

"What's he doing over there?" Sasuke asked as Sakura healed Kakashi.

"Healing himself. If we don't come up with a plan soon, we're all dead,"

"Well what can we do? The last few bouts we had with him he was at a disadvantage and he still kicked our ass," Sasuke said.

Sakura added, "Even worse, he has that annoying crow to back him up and we don't know what else that bird can do,"

"It seems like retreating would be the best option. We're outmatched, Hanabi's down, I'm out of chakra, and the odds with you two against him are rather slim…"

"We can't give up!" Sasuke exclaimed, "What about Gaara? We'd be just like the Sand Village if we leave Gaara!"

"I know Sasuke, but the fact is we're not skilled enough to beat Naruto,"

Sasuke grinded his teeth as he watched Naruto smirk. The blonde ninja was nearly healed; all of his wounds and scars seemed to evaporate in smoke and his chakra reserves were replenished.

"Just give it up," Naruto said, "Face the fact that you can't beat me,"

"Uruse!" Sasuke shouted, "If I can take down your genjutsu, I can take down you, Usuratonkachi!"

"...wait, what did I just say?" Sasuke thought to himself. Naruto also felt a pain of remembrance, feeling as if he was called that before along time ago. He nearly threw up again, but Yata managed to suppress the upsurge before it came out and shattered Naruto's systems again.

"Such an annoying feeling. Oy! Sasuke! I wanted to let you know I wanted to enjoy killing you slowly! But now… now I want to get rid of you as soon as possible!" Naruto exclaimed. He formed hand seals and yelled, **Suiton: Teppodama!** And Naruto consecutively spat out three condensed balls of water.

But before the balls of water could annihilate Team 7, three ninja suddenly yelled in unison **Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu! **and three great fireballs flew over Team 7 and smashed into the cannonballs of water. The balls sizzled as they hit each other and eventually all of the balls evaporated into water vapor, Team 7 was unharmed.

Three Leaf ninja donning the flak jackets of the Konoha Military Police Force jumped in front of Team 7. All of them had their Sharingan activated, and the one in the middle turned his head and asked, "Sasuke, are you alright?"

* * *

Sasuke couldn't help but smile at the sight of his brother and yelled in joy, "Nii-san!"

Itachi, warmly smiled and told Team 7, "When we heard that Team 7 was going up against Akatsuki, we came out here as soon as possible,"

Naruto groaned, "Good grief, now I have to deal with four Uchihas?"

But Team 7 rejoiced upon seeing friendly faces, especially seeing Itachi's face.

Kakashi sighed in relief, "Glad to see the Hokage sent some backup,"

Itachi bluntly told him, "The Hokage didn't approve this; I came without his permission,"

"Oh? You and Shisui are going to get an earful from Danzo when we get back,"

"I'd much rather get chastised and save my comrades then let them die,"

Kakashi lightly laughed, "I can't argue with that,"

One of the members of Itachi's team asked, "Itachi-sama, what is your plan?"

Itachi replied, "It all depends. Kakashi-san, what do you know about the enemy?"

"His name is Uzumaki Naruto,"

Itachi's eyes widened in surprise for a brief second, but resumed their normally calm demeanor, "I thought the face looked familiar," the Uchiha remarked.

"Nii-san, you saw him before?" Sasuke asked.

"…Yeah, except it was in tears the last time I saw it,"

"Eh? That dobe in tears? When?"

"It was a long time ago, but we'll talk about that later. What do we know about him, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi continued, "He's skilled in everything. Even when he couldn't perform any jutsus, he managed to outdo us. We don't know much about the crow except that it's able to heal Naruto and is its teacher,"

"I see... Inabi. Tekka," Itachi called the two ninja that kneeled on both sides of him.

The two ninja nodded to acknowledge him.

Itachi ordered, "Test out Naruto's moves so I can observe him, but don't try to kill him. You may end up dead yourself,"

The two ninja responded in unison, "Hai," then speedily commenced their attack on Naruto.

The Uchiha named Inabi unsheathed a sword and attempted to slash Naruto's chest. Naruto produced a kunai in his left hand and blocked the attack. He pushed back Inabi with his foot only to have the other Uchiha, Tekka, attack him from the right with shuriken.

Naruto pivoted himself so that he could use his left hand to deflect all of the shuriken with his kunai. Itachi noted something about Naruto's fighting style and sought to confirm it with Kakashi, "Did you realize something odd when you fought Naruto?"

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah, his right hand…"

"Just as I thought…" Itachi trailed off in thought.

"What?" Sakura asked, "What about his right hand?"

Sasuke also understood what the two ninja meant and explained to Sakura, "His right hand. He doesn't use it,"

"What's so strange about that?"

Sasuke explained, "Our Sharingan can notice subtle details in our line of sight. The eyes noticed that Naruto's right hand is his dominant hand. That is known because we saw his right thumb cross over his left thumb when he did the Dragon seal. But what's strange is that most ninja tend to use their dominant hand to defend themselves. Here, Naruto isn't using his right hand, in fact he isn't using it at all. He's depending on his left hand to defend himself, and when his right side needs to be defended, Naruto moves to deflect the attack instead of using his right hand. Isn't that right, Nii-san?"

Itachi nodded and added, "Also, his right arm is noticeably skinnier than his left arm. It's possible that his right side is his weak point,"

Sakura asked, "Why didn't you attack that point to begin with, Sasuke?"

"In the beginning I didn't notice, and when I did realize I couldn't do anything about it because that crow on his shoulder would've pecked me if I tried,"

"But now," Kakashi stated, "Since we have extra help, that crow shouldn't be a problem,"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sasuke asked as he stood up and prepared to attack Naruto, "Let's get him!"

"No, Sasuke," Itachi told his brother, "You and Team 7 have done enough, let us handle this,"

"But, Nii-san!" Sasuke protested.

Itachi poked Sasuke on the forehead and gently smiled, "Don't worry Sasuke, we can handle him," then the clan leader sped off to assist the other Uchihas.

* * *

**A/N: Again, I hoped you enjoyed the Chapter! And don't hesitate to write a review! They're really appreciated :)**


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